


The Saga of Freya Idasdatter

by Persiflage



Category: Original Work
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fantasy, Female Character of Color, Male Character of Color, Marriage, Older Man/Younger Woman, Older Woman/Younger Man, Original Mythology, Quests, Romance, Sorcerers, Swords & Sorcery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-02 08:56:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 40,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is not your usual quest story...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tayryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/gifts), [Wolfsbride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfsbride/gifts).



> Everything and everyone here is wholly owned by me.  
> For the first time in six years of writing fiction, I've finally finished an original work.  
> Huge thanks to my cheer-leaders and beta-readers, Tayryn and Wolfsbride.

[](http://s97.photobucket.com/user/Sass_album/media/SagaBanner-Tay_zps0283e921.jpg.html)

The four travellers stood back to back, their swords out, and Freya wondered bleakly why the town dwellers so often refused to leave her and her people in peace.

"I warn you, you're about to make a mistake you probably will not live to regret," she told the men who encircled them.

"Yeah?" sneered the ringleader, an ill-kempt individual who had broken his nose at some stage in his life, but had it set badly (or not at all), and was missing the last two fingers of his left hand.

"Yes," said Freya, her voice firm and her eyes an icy blue that would have warned anyone who knew her not to try her patience any further.

The ringleader laughed harshly. "Lady," he said, the tone of the word mocking, "we outnumber you nearly three to one. If anyone's making a mistake, it's you in thinking you can take us on."

Freya shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She could feel Agni's shoulder pressed against her own and was pleased to note that the younger woman was not trembling, although she was sure Agni must be a fair way to being terrified. "Agni?" she said softly, neither raising her voice nor turning her head to the right, her eyes still fixed coldly on the man before her.

"Yes Freya?"

"Now."

At her word, Kyrre, Agni's betrothed, sprang forward on her left at the same time that she leapt towards the ringleader. Agni, meanwhile, made a sharp gesture with her left hand and a crack of thunder sounded overhead. Behind her she heard a deep bass growl, then two men screamed almost simultaneously: one had been hit by the bolt of lightning Agni had summoned, while the second had abruptly found himself confronting an enraged mountain bear, rather than the brown-haired man who'd been standing before him moments ago.

Freya didn't waste time in looking behind her at what Tyr was doing; she concentrated on the broken-nosed man before her who, despite having the look of a brawler, was proving that he at least knew one end of a sword from the other.

At her left Kyrre was demonstrating that someone had not wasted their time in teaching swordplay to a healer, and although she couldn't take much notice of him at the moment, she was aware that Kyrre was definitely holding his own against his own opponent.

There were further flashes of lightning in the alley behind her, and more screams too, as Agni and Tyr continued to battle against the gang. Freya, however, spared them scant attention: her own opponent was being hard-pressed and she could see his awareness of the fact gradually dawning in his green eyes as she drove him slowly, but steadily, backwards down the alley.

She saw in his eyes the moment when he decided he'd had enough, and he lunged wildly at her, but she easily stepped inside his guard and drove her sword deep into his guts. His expression of appalled astonishment was almost comical, she thought, but she felt no inclination to laugh as she withdrew her sword, and the man staggered backwards, still vainly clutching at his innards.

Freya whirled around once she was sure he was down, and found that the battle was already over. She judged that Agni's lightning bolts had killed four men, while Tyr, who still hadn't shape-shifted out of his bear form, had dispatched another four. She and Kyrre had put paid to the other two, leaving none of the men alive.

"Is anyone hurt?" she asked quickly as Tyr transformed, then bent to snatch up his clothes and began dressing rapidly.

There were negatives from everyone so, pausing only to clean their swords, she and Kyrre led the way out of the alley and down the street towards the inn where they had left their horses earlier; Freya had shown them around the town which Tyr had not visited for at least a decade, and Agni and Kyrre had never seen.

"Perhaps we should buy some local clothes so that we blend in more?" suggested Agni half-heartedly.

Freya glanced at her, a sharp retort at her tongue's end, but she noticed that the young woman was trembling slightly, despite Kyrre's arm around her shoulders, and she swallowed the retort again. "The first thing we're going to do is get some refreshment inside us," she told them.

"Just what I was going to suggest," Kyrre said quietly. "It'll help you to get over the shock of killing people in combat."

"You're looking a bit green yourself, Kyrre," observed Tyr softly. "But you acquitted yourself well for a man who's more used to healing injuries than inflicting them."

"You both did," Freya told Agni and Kyrre, "considering it was the first time either one of you has fought anyone." She smiled at them both, and was pleased when they managed to smile back.

They reached the inn and Freya, after establishing that they could hire a private room in which to eat, also enquired about rooms for an overnight stay. The landlord, Finn, and Kari his wife, both remembered her from previous visits to Hamarr, and the couple seemed delighted to welcome her back. Within ten minutes the four travellers were all in the private dining room, having first washed their hands and faces at the washstands in their bedrooms.

"I find the concept of two-storey stone houses intriguing," Agni observed as they waited for Finn to bring in their meal. "But also disconcerting after only seeing one-storey wooden longhouses at home."

"They do take some getting used to," Freya agreed.

"I like the separate building for the horses," Kyrre said. "What did you say they call it?"

"A stable," Tyr supplied. "They believe that it's healthier to house people and animals in separate buildings."

"It certainly improves the smell," Agni said, not quite suppressing a giggle.

Freya felt herself relaxing at the sound. She would freely admit that she had felt quite worried earlier when the gang had cornered them in the alley off Market Square, but Kyrre, despite his quiet, scholarly manner, and his preference for solitude (which he shared with other mind-speakers of her acquaintance), had proven to have been well-trained in sword work, while Agni, like all weather-workers, had shown a real knack for deploying well-aimed lightning bolts.

While she would never have sought such a confrontation, Freya had to acknowledge to herself it had served one useful purpose, at least, by showing them all they could work together as a team, and that boded well for the remainder of their journey south to Imus Ager.

# # # #

Spring had come to Boreus Ager later this year than ever before; Freya, who was almost a century old, could not recall it ever arriving so tardily. But come it eventually did, laying a green haze over the harsh grey aspects of the mountain steading, and bringing with it a frenzy of work: repairs had to be made to the steading's buildings, for the winter, as well as being long, had been unforgiving in the damage it had done; the crops must be planted, with the hope that this summer would not be too wet for them to grow; the livestock must be taken down to the lower pastures to graze; and everything must be renewed and refreshed.

Once the work was well under way, Freya had called on the clan elders, of whom there were now only five since Embla and Alnir, twin sisters and the oldest members of the clan, had passed away some six weeks before winter's end.

"Sisters, I have come to you so that I might discuss with you the matter which has been in my mind these last four moon-cycles since I lost both my daughters in that avalanche at the Kapp Koburg pass. Since I am now without an heir, it behoves me to find a wife for my son, Tyr, so that his daughters may become my heirs. As all the young women of the clan are already hand-fasted or betrothed, I propose to travel south with Tyr, to Imus Ager, in order to seek a wife for him from among the clans there."

"And how many able bodies and willing pairs of hands do you mean to rob us of in order to find a woman for your son?" asked Ilmur; at 157 she was now the oldest clan member, and as the most senior of the clan's weather-workers, she had had the hardest winter of anyone. It was thanks to her and her three daughters that the majority of the clan had survived the winter at all.

"Only two others," Freya answered. "If they will travel with me and Tyr." She met the older woman's eyes without flinching, her own blue eyes icy. Ilmur might be the oldest of the elders, but Freya was Dronning, and she had the right to take whomever she choose, even the whole clan, if she deemed it wisest.

Ilmur's expression softened, and it took Freya a moment to realise that the elder had been worried that Freya had indeed intended to take the entire clan south. "Whom do you wish to take?"

"If they'll come, and if you approve, your youngest daughter, Agni, and her betrothed, Kyrre. A weather-worker would be invaluable, and Kyrre is a talented healer. Since his sister and his mother will be remaining here, the clan will not be without healers should anyone fall ill or become injured. And Tassu, his brother, will be able to pass on any messages from us should we need to contact the tribe before we return."

Ilmur nodded. "Your choices are wise, Freya, as ever. If Agni and Kyrre will go with you and Tyr, I shall not object."

"Thank you."

"When do you propose to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Freya answered. "The sooner we go, the sooner we can return. Will you take charge of the clan in my absence, Ilmur?"

The older woman looked surprised by the request, but after a moment's thought, her grey-haired head nodded. "I will."

"Thank you. I shall find and talk to Agni and Kyrre."

"I wish you good fortune on your journey, and in your search, Freya Idasdatter."

The other elders echoed Ilmur's words, and Freya nodded an acknowledgement to them, before turning, and striding out of the council chamber.

"Do you think she'll succeed?" the youngest of the clan elders asked.

"If she doesn't, it won't be from want of trying," Ilmur answered. "I've known Freya since she was a child, and she is the most tenacious person I have ever met."

# # # #

When Freya had tracked down Agni and Kyrre she found the latter teaching his betrothed how to recognise the herbs which he used to augment his healing powers.

The pair listened attentively to Freya's plan, and as she'd expected, Agni immediately agreed to travel south with her and Tyr. Kyrre, however, looked thoughtful, and she knew him well enough to know that he was weighing up the pros and cons.

"Wouldn't you rather travel with an escort of warriors?" he asked finally, rubbing his earlobe between his finger and thumb, a habitual gesture when he was thinking.

"No. If we look like an armed company, we'll be far more likely to attract trouble than to avoid it." 

Kyrre ducked his head in acknowledgement of her greater experience of travel in the world outside the steading. A contemporary of her son, Kyrre was fifteen years older than Agni and had already been briefly married, but he had lost his wife and baby daughter before the latter was a year old.

"I, also, will come with you, Dronning."

"Thank you, Kyrre." She began advising them of what they would need to pack, then settled that they would be ready to leave at the second hour after sunrise the following day. Leaving them to make their arrangements, she went in search of Tyr; he wasn't in the immediate vicinity of the steading, so she eased open the gate in the enclosing fence, and headed down to the riverbank.

"Tyr?" she called, scanning up and down the river.

After a moment a large beaver scrambled out of the water and shook itself vigorously, before shape-shifting into her naked and dripping wet son. She reached down and passed him the piece of sacking that he'd brought with him to dry off; as he dried himself, then dressed again, she waited with her eyes on the river. 

"How's the dam holding up?" she asked after a few moments.

"Very well, considering," Tyr answered, and she turned to find him at her side. He was a tall man with brown hair, and blue eyes like her own. He'd grown lean over the Winter, as they all had, but was as well-muscled and fit as ever.

"Good. Will you need to do any repairs before we leave?"

"We're going then?" 

She nodded. "Tomorrow morning, first thing. Agni and Kyrre both agreed to come with us."

"Good. And yes, I need to do some repairs on the dam, but they won't take long; two hours at the most."

"Very well. I'll leave you to the work then."

He gave her a smile, then turned away, and for a moment she watched him as he began shifting rocks down to the riverbank to use in the dam repairs, then she headed back towards the steading as she had more than enough to do before they left in the morning. 

# # # #

At the appointed hour the following morning, the four travellers had assembled outside Freya's longhouse. Tyr examined each horse in turn, checking the saddles and girths, and the balance of the saddle-bags, then inspecting their hooves and lower legs as well. Once he was satisfied that the horses were in good shape and everything had been packed sensibly, the four had mounted, and nodding a farewell to Ilmur, who alone had risen to see them off, they had trotted out through the gateway in the fence surrounding the steading, and onto the track that led down the mountain. Tyr led the way, with Kyrre taking up the rearguard position, and the two women in the middle, Freya behind her son, and Agni behind her. This ensured that the two most experienced travellers were in the forefront of the group, and Kyrre, whose healing powers were of great value to the group, was safely at the back at least until they got amongst the townships.

For the first hour or so, the group had ridden in silence as the track was steep and narrow, requiring everyone's full concentration to negotiate it without incident; the drop down onto the rocks below would almost certainly cripple, if not outright kill, anyone who went over the edge.

However, once they reached the wider section of track which didn't look straight down over the mountainside, they had begun to talk of the journey ahead. Tyr had visited Hamarr before, but it had been a decade since his last trip there, while Kyrre and Agni had never left the steading prior to this. Freya had not only visited Hamarr, she had even ventured as far south as Bardo, some thirty miles beyond Hamarr. But even Freya, who was the most well-travelled member of the clan, had never gone as far as Imus Ager before. The tribe there had been formed from a cadet branch of Freya's own clan in the days when the tribe at Boreus Ager had been larger than the three clans of which it was now compromised; back then the steading in the northern mountains had been filled almost to overflowing with people, and nearly forty clan members, mostly young men and women, had left their homes and made their way south until they settled in the far hotter lands in a community they had named Imus Ager.

For the first few years after their departure, the southern clan had stayed in touch with those in the north, mind-speakers from both groups sending messages back and forth with an ease which non-mind-speakers could only envy. Eventually, however, the two groups had lost touch, contact lessening and becoming more irregular until it was now nearly a decade since anyone at Boreus Ager had heard from anyone at Imus Ager. Nevertheless, Freya had high hopes of finding a thriving tribe in the southern lands, and that Tyr would be able to find a wife amongst the young women there.

# # # #

As they were finishing their meal, Agni again brought up the matter of them buying local clothes.

"Why should we hide behind them?" asked Freya quietly. "You know, as well as I do, that our people have lived in the mountains at Boreus Ager for more than eight hundred years, ever since my great-grandmother led her tribe north to settle. We have practised our sorceries to the harm of no one in all that time, except in the essential defence of our people and property – something which has become increasingly necessary in the last six decades as the non-sorcerers have built their stone houses, and their towns have spread higher and higher up the mountain. They ignore our land holdings, encroaching onto our pastures and stealing our livestock."

She looked from Agni to Kyrre and Tyr, then shook her head. "I am not ashamed of who I am, of the heritage that is mine, nor of the power that I hold, so I will not hide behind clothing that is not mine for the sake of avoiding harassment, particularly when I am not in the wrong."

Freya got to her feet, deliberately hiding a wince at the stiffness of her muscles, then nodded to the others. "My bones grow no younger, and I have become stiff as well as weary, so I shall bid you goodnight."

The younger ones murmured their own goodnights and Freya made her way from the room and up the strange stone ladder called stairs, which always seemed disconcerting to her. She shed her outer clothes swiftly, then scrambled into the bed as quickly as her aching muscles would allow.

Leaving the candle burning for Agni, Freya pulled the blankets up over her head and burrowed down into the warmth of the bed. She was asleep in moments.

# # # #

The next morning the four companions were breaking their fast, desirous of resuming their journey as early as possible, when the landlord came into the private dining room with a troubled expression on his normally placid face. 

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Mistress Freya," he said, his tone low and anxious, "but Reifnir, the Vogt's clerk is here – to see you." He looked as if he couldn't quite believe the words he was uttering, Freya noticed.

"Me? What can the Vogt's clerk want with me?"

"Best if he explains that himself," Finn said. "Will you see him?"

"I suppose I must." She waited, glancing at the others to gauge their feelings: Tyr looked tense, Kyrre thoughtful, and Agni anxious.

The door opened again and Finn stood back to allow a small, dark-haired man precede him into the room.

"Freya Idasdatter?" he asked, stumbling over her matronym.

"Yes?" She didn't get to her feet, she merely looked up at him with a calm, enquiring expression.

"I am ordered to bring you before Vogt Daniel Rask, you and your companions, to face ten charges of murder."

Tyr growled in the back of his throat, but Freya sent him a quelling look, before turning back to the clerk. "And who brought these charges?" she asked.

"I am not at liberty to say," Reifnir answered, his tone haughty.

"Are we at least allowed to finish our meal first?" she asked. He looked uncomfortable, but nodded, and she looked over at the waiting landlord, ignoring the shocked expression on his face. "Finn, would you be kind enough to bring a tankard for Reifnir, please, and anything he might wish to eat?"

The clerk, flushing, began to protest, but Freya gave him much the same look she'd given Tyr a short time ago, and he subsided into a chair, clutching an armful of papers to his chest.

While Freya didn't intend to hurry to finish eating, she also didn't linger unnecessarily. She was interested to see how the clerk reacted to the fact that she had effectively taken control of the situation, and was impressed to note that he seemed fairly relaxed and unconcerned to be dining with four alleged murderers. Then she remembered that she had once met Vogt Rask some dozen years ago, but only briefly, and she wondered if perhaps the Vogt thought the deaths of those ten men the evening before had been justified, and had conveyed that opinion to Reifnir.

When everyone had finally finished eating, Freya got to her feet, then gestured for the clerk to lead the way since she did not know where, in Hamarr's maze of confusing buildings, the Vogt conducted hearings.

Freya had wondered, before leaving the inn, whether word of their arrest might already have been rumoured abroad, but the early morning streets were peaceful and, as yet, lacking much bustle from market-goers or those with too much time on their hands.

She found her respect for Vogt Rask increasing, and decided that he might, after all, not assume they were guilty of murder, but only of killing the men in self-defence.

Eventually they reached the Judicial Hall, as Reifnir told them it was named, and Freya heard Kyrre and Agni whispering behind her at their first sight of the building. Tyr, who walked at her left, remained silent, but she felt him quivering with tension.

The Judicial Hall was a grey stone building, just like all the other local structures, and had a wide frontage with a flight of steps leading up to a double doorway. On either side of the staircase were two round pillars which held up a flat roof over the steps. She noticed that the roof was decorated by a carved female figure holding an odd-looking object in her left hand, and Freya could just see that the figure's eyes were covered.

Catching sigh of the direction of everyone's gaze, the Vogt's clerk explained, "This is a representation of Justice."

"What's that device she's holding?" asked Kyrre.

"A pair of scales, which represent the balance a Judge must achieve between the guilt of the condemned and the strength of the punishment he can impose."

"And the covered eyes?" asked Freya curiously.

"Justice must be blind to the wealth, or otherwise, of those who appear before the Judge," said the clerk.

Freya asked no further questions, but she couldn't help wondering at the idealism the figure represented, because it didn't really match with her notions of the ways in which non-sorcerers tended to behave towards the sorcerers of Boreus Ager.

Reifnir led them into the building, which had a large hallway off which a number of doors opened. There were at least a score of people inside, despite the early hour, and Freya wondered if they were all here to see the outlanders receive their punishment. To her relief, the clerk wasted no time in leading them to the third door on the left wall, and he opened it, then gestured for the four companions to step through. As he then led them down a narrow aisle alongside tiers of seats, she heard a noise behind them and turning her head, saw only four or five people entering the room in their wake. At the back of the group was a tall man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes, whose smug expression convinced her that this was the man responsible for laying the charges of murder against herself and her companions.

Reifnir led them in front of the tiers of seating, which she now saw had a second aisle up the middle, and ushered them into a separate row of seats on the left as they faced the front of the hall; this row of seats was partitioned off from the seating behind. As they settled themselves, nervously in the case of Agni and Kyrre, Freya glanced to her right and saw a similarly partitioned area of seating, but this seemed bigger, and she wondered who would sit there. 

After a few minutes of waiting, which seemed far longer to Freya, eight men entered from the aisle on the left, and crossed to the other partitioned area of seating. Then Vogt Rask appeared through a doorway behind the long table that stood on the dais at the front of the hall. Everyone immediately fell silent and got to their feet; he stood looking down at them, then he spoke in a quiet, yet carrying, voice:

"Be seated."

They obeyed, and the Vogt sat down too. He looked considerably older than Freya remembered, his brown hair having gone grey in the intervening years, and his face had acquired a network of lines. He was not a very tall man, but his shoulders were broad, and he carried himself easily despite his age.

"You are called here to examine the matter of the deaths of ten men in an alley off Market Street at around the second hour after sunset yesterday. It is the contention of Surtr Hamarrsson that Freya Idasdatter, Agni Ilmursdatter, Kyrre Magnusson, and Tyr Konjasson, wilfully set upon and murdered the ten men whose names follow hereafter – "

Freya tuned out the list of the dead, which Rask was reading out; her attention had been caught by the men across the way, two of whom appeared to be deep in conversation. She saw the clerk, who was seated on the dais itself in front of the Vogt's table, glaring at the two men, but they persisted, so he slid down off the dais and crossed towards the other partitioned seating. He had a short stave in his left hand, and he rapped on the partition with it, clearly startling the two men, who both flushed as they fell silent.

Reifnir returned to his place as the Vogt finished the list of the dead men, then Rask looked at Freya and said, "Will you please explain to those present what happened yesterday evening?"

The clerk made a lifting gesture at her, so she got to her feet, and with her eyes on Rask, described how they had arrived in Hamarr in mid-afternoon, and after leaving their horses at the Wild River Inn, they had ventured to explore Hamarr, since two of her companions had never visited the town before.

"You are all sorcerers, are you not?" asked Rask when she paused for breath.

"Yes Vogt."

"Will please explain what powers you each possess?" The question was courteous and his expression was encouraging, so she gave a nod. 

"I am both a far-seer and a wind-walker. My son Tyr is a shape-shifter. Agni is a weather-worker. Kyrre is both a healer and a mind-speaker."

"I presume that wind-walking is not a weapon?" Rask asked.

"No, Vogt. It is a means of travelling, short or long distances, but since I can only use it if I have already visited the place to which I wish to travel, I cannot wind-walk to somewhere I have never been. Additionally, although I can take a second person with me, it is far more exhausting to take a non-wind-walker along with me, so it is something I do only in exceptional circumstances."

"And what is a mind-speaker?" Rask directed his question to Kyrre, who got to his feet at the other end of the row of seats to answer.

"Mind-speakers can hold conversations with other mind-speakers without speaking aloud, Vogt. But I can only hear echoes and whispers of the thoughts of those who are not mind-speakers, and they cannot hear my thoughts at all."

Rask nodded. "Tyr, I understand that you can change your shape. Do you only transform into animals, or can you become other people as well?"

Tyr got to his feet, stared hard at the Vogt for a moment, then with a shuddering movement, transformed himself into a duplicate of Daniel Rask. "I can change my shape into whatever or whomever I wish. But although I can become you in outward appearance, I know nothing of your thoughts or memories." 

There had been a stir throughout the room as Tyr began to speak since his voice was a replica of Vogt's. The shudder went through his body again, and the tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed man reappeared.

"Thank you." Rask nodded at Tyr, who resumed his seat beside his mother, then looked at Agni. "Can you impose any weather on your surroundings?"

Agni stood up, and Freya could see she was clutching Kyrre's hand tightly. "I can, Vogt, but some weather is easier to call upon than others, and it is much harder to produce rain, for instance, if there are no clouds and the temperature is high."

"I understand." He looked back at Freya. "Please continue."

Freya, who had sat down when the Vogt began talking to her companions, got to her feet again, and resumed her narrative, confining herself to a purely factual account of events, despite the remembered anger which echoed in the back of her mind.

"And did you seek to avoid the encounter with the men, since you knew that two of your number were capable of using their sorcery against your attackers?" 

"Yes, I did," Freya said swiftly.

"Thank you. You may be seated."

Freya sank down gratefully as the Vogt asked, "Who speaks against these four?"

"I do," answered a voice from the back of the hall.

Freya turned to look over her shoulder and saw the smug man she'd spotted earlier, and was unsurprised to be proven right as to his identity.

"What say you?" asked Rask.

"I say that Óstarki Eriksson and his friends were simply enjoying an evening out as they celebrated Eriksson's festival day. They were minding their own business when these sorcerers – " He gestured at Freya and the others, his voice thick with loathing, "set upon them and slaughtered them."

Freya heard Tyr snarl beside her, and she quickly turned around again. "Don't," she begged him softly, grasping his wrists in both her small hands as she stared into his blue eyes, which were icy with rage. "Tyr, please." She shook his arms and willed him not to transform, and after a moment she felt the tension leave his body and he gave her a small nod.

When she focused her attention on the proceedings again, she heard Rask telling Surtr Hamarrsson to be seated, then he asked if there were any witnesses. Two more men gave evidence, if one could call their lies 'evidence', Freya thought in disgust. 

When the Vogt had heard all the evidence, he summed up the various accounts given by all concerned, then directed the 'jury' (as he named the eight men) to weigh up all they had heard before deciding if Freya and her friends were guilty of murder, or only of killing in self-defence.

The men retired, as did the Vogt, and Rask's clerk came to take them to a side room where they could await the jury's verdict in privacy.

"What will the penalty be, if we're found guilty of murder?" asked Agni, and Freya could see the younger woman was valiantly fighting back tears.

"In that unlikely event, your lives will be forfeit," answered Reifnir.

"You think it unlikely?" Tyr asked, his tone sharp.

The clerk nodded. "Surtr Hamarrsson is well-known to the Vogt – he's a trouble-maker – and most of the men you killed yesterday evening were little more than thugs for hire. Few will mourn their passing, and many will privately be grateful to you for ridding the town of them."

At this Agni began weeping, and Kyrre took her aside, wrapping her in his embrace and speaking quietly to her.

"And if we're only found guilty of killing in self-defence?" asked Tyr.

"I imagine the Vogt will admonish you about fighting in Hamarr's streets, and advise you to be on your way as soon as possible."

"But – " began Tyr, his wrath plain not only to Freya, but to the clerk as well.

Reifnir held up his hand to prevent Tyr's outburst. "The Vogt delivers such admonishments on a regular basis to the brawlers of the town who avoid wounding or the outright killing of their opponents. Since he knows the attack on you was unprovoked, he will also issue a stern injunction for the townspeople to refrain from confronting you, or other sorcerers. Vogt Rask knows that the rights of your people have been disregarded or violated, and he's trying to get the governors to acknowledge that and pass laws to protect your people and property, but it isn't easy. Down on the plains, most people have forgotten about your existence, or regard you as mere myths, and it's taking him more time than he'd like to educate the governors." 

Tyr subsided, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his legs in front of him, his arms folded across his chest, and Freya patted his arm, relieved that he had calmed down again, then turned back to the clerk. 

"I had no idea that anyone took our complaints seriously," she said, feeling both guilt and gratitude; she realised that she had been guilty of believing all of Hamarr's townspeople indifferent to the plight of her people, and she was grateful to discover that wasn't wholly true.

Before they could discuss the matter further, the door opened and another man stood in the doorway. "The jury has reached a decision, it appears," Reifnir said, and the five of them filed out and back into the other room.

They resumed their seats and the jury remained standing as the Vogt returned to his own seat on the dais.

"Have you men of the jury reached a decision regarding the charges against Freya Idasdatter, Agni Ilmursdatter, Kyrre Magnusson, and Tyr Konjasson?"

"We have."

"And is your decision unanimous?"

"No, Vogt. Two of our number disagreed."

Freya wondered if those two were the same two men who'd been reprimanded by Reifnir at the outset of the hearing.

"What is the decision of the majority of you?"

"That the four sorcerers are not guilty of murder. Rather, we find that they acted in self-defence."

Vogt Rask nodded. "Thank you, gentlemen." He focused his attention on Freya and her companions. "Freya Idasdatter, Agni Ilmursdatter, Kyrre Magnusson, Tyr Konjasson, I find you not guilty of ten counts of murder. I admonish you to refrain from fighting in Hamarr in future, and request that you depart from this town as soon as possible."

He looked up at the tiered seating behind Freya, and spoke again, "Surtr Hamarrsson, I find you guilty of laying false charges for the purposes of stirring up hatred against sorcerers, of bringing forth false witnesses, and bribing said witnesses, and of wasting the time of the court. For these offences, I order you to be detained for a full moon-cycle in the hope that you will learn the error of your ways, and refrain from such behaviour in the future. Take him away, please, guards."

Three men converged on Surtr, whose expression was filled with hate as he glared at both the Vogt and the four sorcerers, and manhandled him away.

Reifnir hurried to where Freya and the others were still seated, startled by this particular turn of events, and making a low bow, told them that he would escort them back to the inn.

The landlord, Finn, and his wife, Kari, seemed very relieved to see them when they returned; Finn insisted that the clerk wait in the public bar while Kari took them upstairs to pack, and when they came back downstairs a scant fifteen minutes later, he refused to take any payment from them, and produced a stock of food provisions to see them on their way.

"Kari and I thought you might be a little reluctant to take hospitality from any other townspeople," he explained, "so we put up some food parcels for you."

"You're too kind, Finn. Thank you very much." Freya was touched by their generosity, but had no wish to cause a scene, so she merely shook hands with the couple, and promised that they would call in at the Wild River Inn on their return.

Although they rode out of Hamarr several hours later than they had originally intended, they were all so relieved to be leaving at all, that they travelled for another two hours before they stopped to eat again, and water the horses. 

"I fear we have made an enemy of Surtr Hamarrsson," Kyrre observed as they settled cross-legged on blankets on the bank of the lake.

"Agreed." Tyr's voice sounded more like a bear's growl than a man's, and he tore a hunk off the loaf of bread Finn had given them with unnecessary savagery. 

"I'm sure you're right," Freya said, passing the bread to Agni, "but the situation was not of our making, and worrying about it will not help us in our own concerns. At least we know he's locked away for the next moon-cycle, and hopefully we'll be on our way home from Imus Ager by then,"

"And if we're not?" asked Agni, sounding anxious. 

"Then we deal with him as necessary," Freya said firmly. "Let us hope, however, that it doesn't come to that, and eat our meal in peace."

Her companions murmured agreement, and they ate with only the sound of the birds to disturb the silence. By the time they had finished eating, Freya sensed that they had all relaxed and recovered their equilibrium after the ordeal of the morning; she felt relief and hoped that the rest of their journey would prove less fraught.


	2. Chapter 2

Freya and her companions continued south, heading to Bardo, from where they took a boat down the Bardoelva river as far as the port of Bryggen. From there they had to cross the Middelhavet Sea from Bryggen to Tunit, in which land lay Imus Ager.

More than a full moon-cycle had passed before they reached Bryggen because, while the river boat went faster than they could have ridden, it was still a long journey. When they arrived in Bryggen they found that they would have to wait a few days before they could get a boat that would take them to Gergis, which was the port that would give them the shortest journey to Imus Ager.

They were all glad of the chance to rest, however, after the long journey from Boreus Ager, and the inn they chose to stay in was comfortable. The delay also gave them a chance to get some new clothes made up that was more suitable for the warmer climate than they were used to in the mountains. Freya was particularly pleased to find a tailor who was willing not only to make up tunics and trews in a linen material that would keep them cool, but also willing to decorate their new tunics in the traditional manner of the clan, with symbols that represented each sorcerer's powers. 

The four of them went for a final fitting at the tailor's on the afternoon before they were due to sail to Gergis, and when Hagr was satisfied that the work met with everyone's approbation, he bade his apprentice carefully parcel up the tunics and trews while Freya settled their account. They left the tailor's and decided to have a final look around the market before they went back to their inn for dinner.

They were halfway across the market place when a voice cried out loudly, "There they are!"

Freya turned quickly, hardly believing that she could have heard that voice here, but there he was: tall, blond, and just as smug as the first time she'd seen him – Surtr Hamarrsson.

Tyr growled beside her, just as she demanded, "How did you get here so quickly?"

Surtr smirked. "One of your kind brought me – not happily, of course, in fact, not even voluntarily. But I gave him a compelling reason to do as I wanted." His smirk became a full-blown grin. "I believe his name was Frár."

Tyr's growl became a bear-roar as he shed his clothes with the ease of long practise, and shifted his shape.

"Kill them!" yelled Surtr, and men raced at the four of them from all directions.

Tyr rushed to meet the onslaught as Freya and Kyrre drew their swords, and the air crackled with electricity as Agni invoked her weather powers. Freya was peripherally aware that people were scrambling to get out of the way as the first of Surtr's men clashed with Tyr, and the first of Agni's lightning bolts struck home, leaving behind a reek of burning flesh.

Freya noticed that Surtr was hanging back; he yelled curses and exhortations at the men, who easily numbered two dozen, but he made no move to become part of the fray. She fought her way forwards, determined to bring him down literally, as well as figuratively, and men fell before her with a rapidity that clearly alarmed those with whom she clashed.

She saw the moment Surtr realised that she was aiming for him, and he sneered at her, his contempt obvious as he drew his own sword. Freya had become deaf and blind to everything and everyone else by this point: all she wanted was Surtr dead. She didn't know how he'd managed to capture Frár, but it seemed likely that the wind-walker was dead, and she knew that later she would have to find time to mourn the man who had been her lover before she had married Tyr's father, Konja.

"Do you really think you can stop me?" Surtr asked scornfully as she closed the distance between them.

Freya gave a half shrug. "Maybe not, but I'm going to try. I don't know what grievance you have with my people, but I am going to make you regret your vendetta."

"Try." His mouth twisted into an ugly expression as he scoffed at her.

Freya stared hard at him, finding her balance before she moved, and he parried her. To an onlooker it was probably an interesting fight to watch since the pair were fairly evenly matched in skill, but to Freya, as she thrust and parried, twisted and span, it was nothing more or less than life and death.

It was Freya who drew the first blood with a fierce stroke that cut deeply into Surtr's thigh, but he didn't have long to wait before he got his revenge, slicing less acutely into her off arm. She shook off the bite of pain, and renewed her attack with greater determination, her blue eyes icy with rage.

# # # #

Arriving in the market place at Bryggen on the arm of a wind-walker, Treysti Sefisson immediately spotted the four sorcerers they'd come to meet. They were engaged in battling a larger number of non-sorcerers, and while they seemed to be holding their own, judging by the number of bodies around them, Treysti and his friend, Jarp Ballrsson, wasted no time in drawing their own swords and wading into the fray. 

Treysti's attention was drawn to a diminutive white-haired woman on the far side of the square: her hair shone brightly in the sunlight, and he was startled to realise that she looked as old as his aunt Sofia, yet she was fighting a far taller and younger man with a ferocity that belied her age. He began making his way towards her, even as he noted that her opponent was bleeding heavily from his left thigh.

He reached the pair just as the man slipped in the blood underfoot, and the woman sliced her sword deeply across his chest. He hit out as he went down, and stabbed her in the right leg, just below her knee, and Treysti saw her stagger; leaping over the bodies lying in his path, he reached her and caught her just as she lost her balance.

"Jarp!" He yelled urgently for his friend who, besides being a wind-walker, was also a healer; he wanted to carry the woman away, but was afraid to move her before they had stopped the bleeding.

His friend was at his side in moments, along with one of the two male sorcerers.

"Freya?" Then he looked at Treysti and demanded, "Who are you?"

"Treysti Sefisson, sorcerer from Imus Ager. My friend Jarp's a healer."

"Thank the gods," said a female voice, and Treysti looked up to see a younger woman, the one who'd been flinging lightning bolts about, peering anxiously at them. "Kyrre's hurt too," she told the man.

He bit off a curse, then whirled around, and it occurred to Treysti that, like other shape-shifters of his acquaintance, he seemed unfazed by his nakedness. Treysti saw him bend down over another fallen figure, then brought his attention back to Jarp, and the woman he still held cradled in his arms.

"That's Freya," said the young woman. "She's our Dronning. I'm Agni. The naked shape-shifter is Tyr, Freya's son, and only surviving child. Kyrre is a healer and mind-speaker, and my betrothed."

"I'm Treysti, and this is my friend Jarp, who's a wind-walker as well as a healer."

"Where did you spring from?" asked Agni as Tyr lowered Kyrre down beside them.

"I'm a mind-speaker and a far-seer," Treysti said. "I foresaw your coming a week ago, and then last night, I recognised that another mind-speaker was among your party. I tried to make contact with your Kyrre, but he didn't seem to hear me, so I asked Jarp to bring me to meet you. I didn't expect we'd arrive in the middle of a battle, though."

"Mistress Freya may be moved, now," Jarp said, and Treysti glanced up to see Tyr looking very relieved.

"Perhaps it would be best if we went back to wherever you're lodging," Treysti suggested, "once Jarp is satisfied that Kyrre can also be moved?"

Tyr glanced at Agni, then nodded. "Very well." He glanced down at himself, appearing only now to realise he was still naked. He grunted, then stalked away to find his clothes.

Jarp now announced that Kyrre could be safely moved as his head wound was not too severe. "He should wake up again soon," he told them.

It was at this point that the local law officers arrived, and Treysti saw Tyr grow tense at the potential delay in getting his mother to somewhere quiet. "Here," he said softly, tapping the other man's leg to get his attention. "Look after your mother, and let me deal with these people."

Tyr crouched down and Treysti eased himself out from under Freya, feeling oddly reluctant to let her out of his sight. Treysti stood, then looked at Agni. "Why don't we go and talk to them together?" he suggested, just as a burly man with greying black hair started towards them.

She nodded and they moved across to speak to the officer together. He listened intently as she explained that the man whom Freya had been fighting was named Surtr Hamarrsson, and had already caused trouble for them back in Hamarr more than a moon-cycle ago.

"We don't know why he hates sorcerers so much," Agni said at the conclusion of her explanation, "but he seems determined to wipe us out."

"And you've done nothing to provoke him?" asked the man, sounding sceptical.

"Officer, I suggest you speak to Surtr Hamarrsson rather than harassing his victims." Treysti adopted the tone his late mother, who had been the clan's Dronning until her recent death, always used when dealing with recalcitrant youngsters. To his slight surprise, the officer responded quickly,

"Yes sir, we'll be doing that – just as soon as he's conscious."

"Good. In the meantime, I would like to see my injured friends back to their lodgings, and out of this heat and bustle."

"Yes sir. Where are you staying?"

Agni gave him the name of the inn, and he made a note, then turned away. Agni, whom Treysti now realised was younger than he'd initially supposed, looked shaken, and he took her arm and led her back to where the others waited.

"We're free to go back to the inn," Treysti told them, "although I don't doubt that officer will be back to bother you with further questions before you're allowed to leave."

Tyr and Agni both looked mulish, as well as exhausted, and Treysti looked around, then said, "Wait here a moment." 

He strode over to where a group of rickshaw drivers were gathered, and engaged the services of three of them to convey everyone back to the inn where Freya and the others were staying. He saw Agni and Kyrre settled into one, and Tyr into a second, with his mother cradled across his lap, while he and Jarp climbed into the third.

"This is not a situation I thought we'd find ourselves in," Jarp observed, his eyes fixed on the rickshaws ahead of them as they set off.

"Agreed. But we're in it, and we have to help them – we need their help too much not assist them first."

"I know." 

The rickshaws didn't take long to arrive at the inn where Freya and her companions were staying, and Jarp and Treysti hurried to help Agni and Tyr with Kyrre and Freya.

As they carried the injured pair inside, the landlady came bustling out of her own quarters; she was voluble in exclaiming over the state of her guests, but Treysti noticed no complaints, only concern for Freya and Kyrre, which heartened him. 

Two young women, who appeared to be the landlady's daughters, were summoned, and they carried bowls of warm water up to the guestrooms, and Treysti asked about a room for himself and Jarp.

"We came to meet our friends," Treysti explained, gesturing after the others as Agni and Jarp, carrying Kyrre, followed Tyr, who was carrying his mother, up the stairs. "But we did not expect to find them in such dire straits."

"To be set upon in the market place," exclaimed the landlady, wringing her hands in horror. "It is most inexcusable."

"Well, the man who organised it has a grudge against my friends, although they do not know why. He caused similar trouble back in Hamarr."

"For shame! He is a madman, clearly."

"Yes, I believe he is," agreed Treysti. "Can you spare a room for myself and my friend?"

"Of course, of course." 

"Thank you." He settled the details with her as swiftly as was consistent with courtesy, then hurried up the stairs in search of the others.

# # # #

He found Jarp talking quietly to Agni and Kyrre, who Treysti was glad to see looked as if his wits hadn't been too badly addled. Agni introduced the newcomer to her betrothed, explaining that Treysti was also a mind-speaker.

"Oh." The older man flushed, and gave him an apologetic look. "That was you, then, trying to contact me last night?"

"Oh, so you did hear me?" Treysti said, more amused than upset.

"Yes, well sort of. I was aware that someone was being more persistent than usual, but I'm afraid I tend to keep my mental shields up all the time with so many people around, especially in the cities. I'm just not used to being around so many unshielded minds."

Treysti nodded. "I do understand." He leaned his shoulders more comfortably against the open door of the room, and opened his mouth to say something further, but was forestalled by Tyr appearing beside him. 

"Freya is awake," he announced. "She wants to talk to you, Agni, and you." He looked sideways at Treysti, who pushed himself off the door. 

He waited for Agni to pass him, then followed in her wake, aware of Tyr following on his heels as they went down the corridor to the room at the far end. 

# # # # 

Freya looked with interest at the man who followed Agni into her room: he had blue eyes and light brown hair, and wasn't quite as tall as Tyr. She judged him to be a handful of years younger than her son, and he looked fit and well-muscled. He also had the inward look of a far-seer or mind-speaker, and Tyr had told her that he was skilled in both areas.

"You must be Treysti," she said, holding out her hand. 

He took it, then kissed it, to her astonishment, and she felt her cheeks heating up; Tyr practically bristled, she noticed, and even Agni looked surprised by the gesture.

"Thank you for coming to our assistance in the market-place this afternoon. I understand I have your friend Jarp to thank for the healing on my leg."

"We were glad to do our small part for you, Mistress Freya. And to be perfectly frank, we had an ulterior motive in assisting you, since we need your help, too."

"Oh?" She gestured at Agni's bed on the other side of the room. "Would you mind taking a seat, otherwise I shall get a stiff neck looking up at you?"

He gave her a small bow, then moved across to sit where she'd indicated, and she found herself impressed by his chivalrous manner.

"How can we help you?"

"Unfortunately, Mistress Freya, over the last eighteen moon-cycles there has been a virulent outbreak of Helminths disease in Imus Ager, and it has devastated our numbers. We now only have four children and six adults left of our entire tribe."

Freya heard Agni's gasp of horror, and saw Tyr go white; she felt pretty pale herself at this appalling news.

"How many of your people have you lost?"

"Seventy-five," Treysti answered, and she could see the grief in his blue eyes. "Jarp and our other healers did their best against it, but in the end it defeated them. We have had no deaths for six weeks, so my aunt Sofia, who is the chief healer, together with Jarp, judged that the contagion has bypassed us few survivors, but as you can imagine, ten people is far too few to continue as we are, especially when four of those ten are minors."

Freya winced at the thought. "And what of your Dronning?"

"My mother is dead, as are both of my sisters, so my aunt Sofia has taken over, but with so few of us left, it's a purely token gesture. Once I had foreseen your arrival at Bryggen, a week ago, I discussed your impending arrival with Sofia, and Bisi – he's the eldest of us three men – and we agreed that Jarp and I would come to see you. We had thought, you see, of coming to Boreus Ager and throwing ourselves on your mercy, but we weren't sure if we could make the journey with four young children in tow. But once I knew there were four of you travelling together, I hoped you would agree to let us travel back with you and that between ten of us, we could look after the four orphans."

Freya nodded her understanding. "We would be glad to help you, but are you sure you want to travel with us? You arrived in the middle of our battle with Surtr Hamarrsson and his hired thugs, so you know that travelling with us is not an easy option."

"You left him for dead," Treysti said. 

"I did, but that doesn't mean he will die, nor does it mean that there won't be others like him who wish to punish us for what I did to Surtr."

"I think we'll risk it," Treysti said. "Remaining in Imus Ager is no longer viable."

"Very well. We have passage booked on the _Seneschal_ tomorrow afternoon."

Treysti nodded. "Then Jarp and I will book passage on the same ship, and I will contact Jarp's sister, Kolla, who is another mind-speaker, to let her know to expect us in around a week."

He got to his feet, bowed to Freya, then went out, Tyr stepping aside to let him pass. As soon as he was out of earshot, Tyr came fully into the room and closed the door.

"Do you trust him?" 

Freya raised an eyebrow at her son. "Why should I not?" 

"We know nothing of him."

"Tyr, dear, I do believe you're jealous." Freya carefully kept amusement out of her voice, but it wasn't easy.

"He's younger than I am!" Tyr said angrily.

"Tyr, I'm not proposing to become hand-fasted to him. His people, what's left of them, need our help, and I am not about to refuse because my son, who is old enough to know better, is acting like a spoilt child." Freya was aware that her tone had sharpened, but she did not regret it. Whatever personal feelings she might have for Treysti, the double handful of survivors from Imus Ager needed her help, and she was going to ensure that they got it.

She told herself she didn't have any personal feelings for Treysti, aside from liking him because he was courteous and personable.

# # # # 

Treysti shut himself in the room he was sharing with Jarp, and settled himself cross-legged on one of the beds. Closing his eyes, he slowed down his breathing and focused his mind on Kolla's mind.

_Hello Treysti._

_Kolla. How is everyone?_

_Eager for some news._

_Jarp and I found the sorcerers. They were caught up in a battle in the market square. Some witless wonder who hates sorcerers had hired a gang of mercenaries and attacked Freya, who is the Dronning of Boreus Ager, and her companions._

_Is everyone all right?_ Treysti didn't have to see Kolla's face to picture the anxious expression she must be wearing.

_Freya took a sword-thrust to her leg, but your brother soon fixed that up. And Kyrre, the mind-speaker, who's also a healer, was knocked out for a bit, but he's mending, too._

_And what of the 'witless wonder'?_

Treysti smiled at the amusement which now laced Kolla's tone. _Freya had already injured him before he hurt her, and she wounded him a second time as she went down. I don't know if he still lives, but if he does, he won't be going anywhere in a hurry, especially since he doesn't have the benefit of your brother's healing powers. Anyway, we'll be crossing with Freya and the others tomorrow, on the_ Seneschal, _so you can expect us in around a week._

_Very well. Take care of yourself._

_We will, and you too._ Treysti felt the link to Kolla dissolve, and opened his eyes again. Then he swung around on the bed and stretched out full length. Mistress Freya had made a considerable impression on him, he knew: she might be little, but she was clearly a very fierce fighter, and he wondered where her sorcerous talents lay, since he knew she wasn't a shape-shifter, a weather-worker, or a mind-speaker – if she'd had either of the first two powers, she would have been using them against her opponent. And he could always sense a mind-speaker, even when they were well-shielded like Kyrre, which left wind-walker, far-seer, and healer as her potential talents. The thought that she might be a fellow far-seer appealed to him the most, but it didn't really matter to him what sorcery she commanded – all he really wanted to know was whether or not she liked him. He thought she might, and hopefully he'd have plenty of opportunities to make a good impression while they were travelling.

# # # #

Freya and Kyrre remained resting in their rooms until the dinner hour. Treysti and Jarp took themselves off to book their passage on the _Seneschal_ , then visited some of the local traders to purchase trinkets for the four orphans, and silks for the ladies in their lives. Treysti's aunt Sofia favoured shades of green and yellow, whereas Jarp's sister Kolla preferred shades of red and gold, both of which went well with her darker skin colouring.

"We ought to take something back for Hel and Bisi," Treysti observed once they left the silk merchant's.

Jarp gave him a long-suffering look. "You are such a soft touch," he observed, but Treysti could hear the fond amusement in his friend's voice.

"So you're always telling me," he said mildly, "but I note that you have never objected to my generosity when it's been directed at you."

"Of course not, my friend. To do so would be churlish, and I hope you would agree that my mother, gods' rest her, brought me up better than that."

Treysti laughed. "That she did, Jarp, that she did." He sighed as the recollection of Jarp and Kolla's mother reminded him sharply of his own losses. Then he shook his head, purposefully putting the sadness aside, and began scouting the market stalls for gifts they could take back to Bisi and Hel.

He had once, when he was quite a young man, thought that he and Hel would become hand-fasted: she was, after all, a fellow mind-speaker, and therefore suitable material for a wife. Hel, however, had had other ideas, and had not hesitated to disabuse him of the idea, even though she would have been marrying into the Dronning's family line.

Since then, he had had a few dalliances with young women (and a couple of older women who'd taken a shine to him), but nothing serious had come of any of them. It was a disappointment to him that he had yet to become hand-fasted as he longed to be, but it was something he had grown used to, especially over the last eighteen moon-cycles as more and more of his people had died. 

He gave himself another mental shake, and focused on the stall in front of him, looking at the cunningly-wrought jewellery and wondering which necklace to buy for Hel. He turned to ask Jarp's opinion, and found the Officer to whom he'd spoken earlier, approaching.

"Officer Kusma, what can I do for you?"

"I was just on my way to the Razorbill Inn to see Mistress Freya."

"I see." Treysti waited, wondering why the Officer was telling him this.

"I wished to ascertain from you whether or not you think Mistress Freya is fit to answer a handful of questions in order to facilitate our case against Surtr Hamarrsson?"

Treysti wasn't sure what Officer Kusma read in his expression, but the other man said quickly, "We have no intention of bringing any charges against Mistress Freya and her companions. We have a score of witnesses who have all testified that Surtr's attack was completely unprovoked. I simply seek some additional information before I send a man to Hamarr to consult with the Vogt: Surtr is, after all, a citizen of Hamarr, and someone there must know the motivation for his attacks on Mistress Freya and her companions."

Treysti nodded. "I understand. When I left the inn an hour ago, Mistress Freya was sufficiently recovered to hold a conversation with me, so I daresay you will find her capable of answering your questions."

"Thank you, sir. I understand that you and Mistress Freya, and your companions will be sailing to Tunit tomorrow, aboard the _Seneschal_?"

"All being well, yes we shall."

"And do you know when you will return?"

"Not precisely," Treysti answered slowly. "It will take us a week to reach our final destination, and another week to return to Tunit to take ship back here. But it has not been discussed or decided yet, how long we shall wait before making the return journey. It may be as much as a week later."

"I understand, sir. Thank you for your assistance."

Treysti gave him a nod of acknowledgement and watched Officer Kusma stride away. He wondered how long it would take the double handful of people left at home in Imus Ager to pack their belongings – it probably wouldn't take them a week. He felt an odd pang at the thought of leaving the only home he'd ever known, and the prospect of making a new home amongst the people of Boreus Ager was disconcerting. 

He frowned, then turned his attention back to the jewellery in front of him. He finally decided on a necklace with three sapphires in a pendant for Hel, and he was about to move away when a large white-tailed eagle brooch caught his eye. For some reason it made him think of Freya, and he delighted the stall holder by purchasing the brooch as well. Then he went in search of Jarp. 

# # # #

Back at the inn, Treysti found Freya and her companions were closeted in a private room, talking to Officer Kusma, so he and Jarp took their parcels upstairs to their room. Treysti kept the brooch in his pocket, however, and hoped that he would be able to give it to Freya privately. He had a strong feeling that her son did not like him very much, so he preferred not to make it obvious to Tyr that he was attracted to Freya.

He and Jarp had just finished stowing their gifts in their bags when they heard footsteps and voices in the corridor outside; he stuck his head around the door and saw Agni and Kyrre going into Kyrre and Tyr's room. Ahead of them, Freya was making her way to the room she was sharing with Agni, but of Tyr there was no obvious sign. 

Deciding that there was no time like the present, Treysti slipped out of his room and walked along the corridor to Freya's room. Her door was ajar, so he knocked lightly on it, and when she looked up, he smiled.

"Do you have a moment, Mistress Freya?"

She smiled back at him. "Of course. Come in, Treysti."

He pushed the door so that it was more closed than open, noting that she didn't look either surprised or alarmed at what he'd done, just curious, and very focused on him.

"Jarp and I have booked passage on the _Seneschal_ to travel to Tunit with you tomorrow."

She nodded, her blue eyes twinkling, as if she knew that wasn't the reason he'd come to see her.

"While we were out, Jarp and I got some gifts to take back to our friends, and I – " Suddenly his mouth felt dry and his hands sweaty, and he wondered wildly what the devil he thought he was doing.

"You?" prompted Freya.

"I got you this." He slipped the carefully wrapped brooch from his pocket and held it out to her. "I realise it's rather presumptuous of me, and I don't really know why I bought it, I mean that particular item specifically, it was just that it made me think of you the moment I saw it."

He realised he was babbling and snapped his mouth shut; she held out her hand and he placed the brooch on her palm, and turned away to go before he could embarrass himself any further, but Freya seemed to have other ideas.

"Sit down, Treysti," she said softly, gesturing at her bed.

He obeyed, his knees feeling suddenly weak, and his breath caught when she sat down beside him, her right arm brushing against his left as she unfastened the paper on his gift.

"Oh, Treysti, it's beautiful." Her soft exclamation of delight was undoubtedly genuine, and he felt a wonderful warmth in his chest. He thought it was the most cunningly-wrought item he'd ever seen, and the jeweller who'd made it must have been a master craftsman.

She put her hand on his arm, and asked, "How did you know?"

"Know what?" he asked, noting that despite her small stature, she had quite long fingers: an artist's hands, he thought, or perhaps a musician's.

"That I'm a wind-walker."

Treysti shook his head. "I didn't. I literally saw it and thought of you – an image of you as I first saw you, fighting that witless wonder Surtr, came into my mind."

"Really? That is interesting." She glanced back at the brooch in her hand, then looked up at Treysti and there was an expression in her blue eyes which he couldn't seem to fathom. "I understand you're a far-seer, as well as a mind-speaker?"

"I am."

"As am I."

Treysti's eyebrows rose and he stared into her eyes, feeling as if he was falling into a deep blue pool. He wasn't conscious of leaning forward towards Freya, but the next moment he found himself jerking upright again as a bang outside the door warned him that someone was about to enter the room.

The next moment Tyr came in, and Treysti saw his blue eyes darkening with anger as he took in the sight of Treysti sitting close to Freya on her bed, her hand still on his arm.

Ignoring Treysti completely, he spoke to his mother, "The landlady wants to know what time we would like to dine." 

"In half an hour, I think," Freya answered, and Treysti noted that although she sounded quite composed there was a spark of anger in her eyes, too.

He got to his feet quickly. "Will you excuse me, Mistress Freya? I wish to speak to Jarp before we dine."

"Of course, Treysti. And thank you very much for the lovely gift."

He gave a quick nod, bowed briefly, then crossed to the doorway. Tyr was blocking it very effectively, his arms crossed on his chest, and his feet spread wide.

"Excuse me, Tyr." Treysti lifted his eyebrows, wondering if he was going to get thumped, but it appeared that Tyr wasn't prepared to do so while his mother was watching them both; instead, the shape-shifter stepped aside, and Treysti turned sideways to slip through the gap left to him, being extra careful not to brush against the other man. As he started down the corridor towards his room, he heard Freya speak in a clear, carrying voice,

"You are being abominably rude, young man."

As he stepped into his room, he wondered how long it would be before Tyr decided to warn him off physically, instead of merely verbally.

# # # #

The ship to Tunit set off at midday on the following day, and Freya was relieved to leave Bryggen behind. She had been disappointed to learn from Officer Kusma that she hadn't managed to kill Surtr after all, although her foe was going to be receiving the attentions of the healers for quite some time. She wondered if his near-fatal encounter with her would give him pause for thought, but somehow she doubted it. She knew that Kusma was sending a man to Hamarr to see if he could learn the reason for Surtr's obvious hatred for sorcerers, and she freely admitted to herself that she would be curious to learn what motivated such a man to so much violence. 

They were about half an hour out of Bryggen harbour when Agni left their cabin to spend time with Kyrre; Freya had noticed that since he'd received the blow to the head the day before, his betrothed had been quite anxious about him, although Jarp and Treysti had between them confirmed that Kyrre had suffered no lasting damage: he was still capable of mind-speaking, and his memory was unimpaired. Not that she blamed Agni for being concerned, of course. Tyr had seemed inclined to be just as fussy about her own injury, but she refused to listen to his requests that she take more rest: Jarp had done as beautiful a job of healing on her leg as she could ask for, so she saw no reason to mollycoddle herself, nor to allow her son to cosset her.

Instead she was on the promenade deck, enjoying the sea air, and the light breeze that was teasing her hair; Tyr was below, hopefully getting to know Jarp and Treysti better. It pained her that she'd had to warn her son off doing anything to Treysti for his 'over-familiarity' as Tyr called it. After all, if she had no objections to Treysti's attentions, Tyr certainly could have none, for it was no business of his.

She had taken two turns about the promenade deck when Treysti appeared, and she couldn't help smiling when she spotted him striding towards her.

He bowed to her, which made her smile even more, then said, "I've come to keep you company, if I may?"

"I'd like that very much, Treysti."

He crooked his arm and angled his elbow towards her; with a quiet chuckle, she slipped her arm through his and set off.

"I left Jarp and Tyr deep in discussion of their respective sorcerous skills: Jarp's sister, Kolla, is also a shape-shifter."

"So you slipped away?" she teased.

"I did. They seemed very engaged in the conversation, so I rather thought Tyr wouldn't miss me."

"I'm glad you did."

"Truly?" he asked, stopping to look down at her, his expression intent.

"Truly." She drew closer to him, then put a hand on his chest to give her more balance as she pushed up onto her tiptoes. He seemed to realise what she was intending because he ducked his head towards her, his arm coming around her upper body to hold her steady as their lips met in a kiss that quickly became passionate. His other arm encircled her waist, and he pulled her body flush against his, and she couldn't help moaning into his mouth as she grew aware that he was aroused. He kissed her more hungrily, and she felt her body responding in turn; she wanted to be with him, moreso than any of the other men or women whom she had occasionally taken to her bed since her husband had passed several years ago.

"Treysti." It wasn't easy for Freya to pull her mouth from his, not when he was so eagerly exploring it with his tongue.

"Mmm?"

"Which cabin did you leave Tyr and Jarp in?" 

"Mine."

"Then let's go back to my cabin."

He pulled back and looked down at her. "Truly? You want – "

"I want you," she said quickly, not waiting for the rest of his question.

He took her arm in his and they hurried from the promenade deck to the cabins below. Although Freya wasn't at all ashamed of wanting to be with Treysti, she couldn't help feeling glad that his and Jarp's cabin was on the other side of the ship, and nearer to the bow than her own.

She let Treysti into the cabin, then followed him inside and engaged the lock. Turning around, she had no time to step away from the door before he was pressing his body against hers, his mouth hot and hungry as he kissed her.

Freya was aware that she was fully aroused now, so she pushed at his chest until he backed off a little way. "I want to lie on the bed," she told him. 

To her surprise and delight, he promptly scooped her up into his arms, then took the few steps from the door to the bed and laid her down on it, almost reverently. He pulled off her boots, then removed his own, before climbing onto the bed beside her, and she felt some gratitude for the fact that the bunks were quite wide.

"I have to confess, the last time I was with a man as young as you, I was your age too."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Well, you may not be as young as I am, but you're not that old, surely?"

"I'm approaching my first century."

"Which is only old to humans, not to us sorcerers," he observed. "You're about the same age as my aunt Sofia, and she tells me that she is only middle-aged."

Freya chuckled, then reached up and grasped the back of his neck, pulling his head down so that she could kiss him again. His mouth met hers and he quickly slid his tongue past her lips; at the same time, she felt his hand on her inner thigh, and she immediately moved her legs further apart. He skimmed his hand up over her groin, then fumbled for a moment with the fastening of her trews, before easing his hand inside.

Freya moaned in pleasure as his long fingers slipped inside her linen drawers and caressed her skin. He had a sure touch that bespoke plenty of experience, which was a pleasing prospect; she moaned rather more loudly as he slipped one finger inside her and began stroking her firmly.

He slipped his left arm under her body and pulled her closer, and she rolled onto her side as he lay on his side next to her.

"On your back," she muttered.

One eyebrow rose quizzically, but he dropped onto his back, then groaned when Freya moved her body over his, his hand still inside her clothing, and his finger still inside her body. She had positioned herself so that the back of his hand was rubbing against his stiff member as he fingered her.

"Oh gods, Freya," he gasped. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

She grinned down at him, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief, and he wondered abruptly whether she intended him to climax inside his clothing. 

"You'd better hurry up, then," she told him, rocking against his hand.

He moaned very loudly, then slipped a second finger inside her and sped up his ministrations, hoping to drive her to a climax before he reached the point of no return.

He felt her inner walls clenching around his fingers just as she uttered a very loud groan of pleasure. His relief that she had climaxed first, however, was short-lived when someone hammered loudly on the door of the cabin.

His eyes widened, and Freya asked softly, "What is it?"

"Kyrre is out there, with Agni and Tyr."

She grimaced, and Treysti couldn't help thinking that some people really needed to learn better timing.

# # # #

Freya moved off the bed, then rearranged her dishevelled clothing, and crossed to the door. She disengaged the lock, then opened the door, but only wide enough to put her face and one shoulder in view. "What's the matter?"

"Are you all right?" Tyr demanded? "Kyrre and Agni heard moans coming from in here, they were worried you might be sick."

"I am perfectly well, thank you." She started to close the door, and Tyr stepped forward, as if to prevent her. She gave him her iciest look, and he flinched, then asked,

"But why were you moaning if you're not sick?"

"That is no business of yours, Tyr Konjasson. I have told you that I am well. Please go away and leave me in peace."

"But – " began Tyr.

Kyrre, however, grabbed her son's arm, and tugged on it. "Come on, Tyr. You can see your mother is quite well, so let's do as she asked and give her some peace."

Freya wondered if she was imagining the blush staining the healer's cheeks, then she abruptly remembered that both Kyrre and Treysti were mind-speakers. She restrained herself from turning around to look at her lover, but it took an effort of will.

"Will we see you at dinner, Mistress Freya?" Agni asked.

"I am sure that you will," Freya said calmly. Then she closed the door before Tyr could take it into his head to barge into her room, and re-engaged the lock.

Turning, she found Treysti propped on one elbow, a very mischievous look in his blue eyes.

"You are a very bad boy," she told him as she crossed the room towards him. "I really ought to punish you for whatever it was you told Kyrre."

"I didn't tell him anything," Treysti said protestingly. "I just asked him to take Tyr away. I believe he jumped to his own conclusions." 

"Hmm." She decided he was probably telling the truth – and that Kyrre had probably guessed just why she'd been groaning if Treysti was in her cabin, too. She noted that his member looked even more swollen than it had a few minutes ago, despite the interruption, and she decided that they had delayed enough.

Reaching out, she unfastened the belt on his trews, then grabbed them and tugged them down. The head of his erection was poking from the top of his linen drawers, and she felt a surge of desire as she took in its size and girth. She divested him of his drawers also, and he reached for her.

"We might as well do this properly if we are, in fact, going to do it," he said.

"Of course we are," Freya said promptly. She moved closer to the bunk, and he sat up.

They quickly helped each other to undress, then Treysti tugged her down onto the bunk beside him.

"I don't think I've ever wanted to be with someone as badly as I want to be with you," he said softly, and she could hear the complete sincerity in his voice. 

"I want you to be with you, too, Treysti." She rolled onto her back and looked up at him, aroused all over again. "Please."

He leaned down and kissed her, more tenderly than he had before, then he moved his body over hers, and they both moaned as he slid his member inside her.

# # # #

At Freya's suggestion, to which Treysti agreed reluctantly, they arrived for dinner separately. He told her that he felt no shame in bedding with a woman much older than himself, and that he would be happy to be seen with her on his arm.

"I know that, my dear boy," she said, brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead. "But I wish to speak to Tyr first. You've already had experience of his jealousy – I don't want him to lose his temper and hurt you."

"Why is Tyr jealous anyway?" asked Treysti. "He surely doesn't want to bed with you?"

Freya looked startled, then laughed. "No, and I don't think he wants to bed with you, either. I've never noticed that his tastes run both ways. I think it's more a case of him having grown used to being the only man in my life of late, and he dislikes the thought of having to share my time with someone else."

"Oh."

She snuggled more closely against him, relishing the fact that she felt pleasantly achy from their exertions. "Don't worry, he will come round."

"What if he doesn't?" Treysti asked. "I don't want you to have to choose between me and him."

"I won't."

"But – " he began.

"But nothing." She kissed him, allowing her right hand to drift down his torso until she reached his groin. She smiled against his mouth as she felt his member twitch in response to her fingers ghosting along its length.

"Gods, Freya! You are insatiable!" 

She chuckled, and he moaned, then gasped as she clasped his thickening member. "You really can't blame me for wanting to take advantage of having a lover who's so much younger than I, now can you?"

"No. No, I don't." He gasped, rolling his hips in response to her touches, and she soon had him ready for a second time.

As he watched Freya enter the dining room, he couldn't help wondering if he was the only one who saw the way her newly-sun-browned skin seemed to glow: she looked positively radiant, he thought. He glanced sideways at his companions, noticing that Jarp was hiding a smile that probably no one else could detect since they hadn't known him as long as Treysti. Agni and Kyrre seemed to be studying the table, so determined were they to avoid Freya's gaze. Only Tyr was watching his mother closely, and from the glower on his face, Treysti was sure that he had worked out just what his mother had been doing that afternoon in her locked cabin. 

Treysti shifted subtly in his seat, aware that he was growing aroused again at the mere sight of Freya. He was slightly appalled that he was behaving like a lustful teenager, then reflected that she had been just as passionate, which made him feel somewhat better. Freya was, he had quickly realised, a very sensual woman who took great pleasure in the act of intercourse, which had enhanced his own pleasure in bedding with her. He wasn't sure how much of a future their nascent relationship had, he only knew that he wanted it to last as long as possible. He didn't yet dare to hope that she wanted to make it a permanent relationship, but he knew in his own heart that such was exactly what he wanted. 

# # # # 

They arrived in Tunit on the third day after leaving Bryggen, and the journey had been a mixture of torment and satisfaction as far as Treysti was concerned. He and Freya had spent most of their days together, and not just in bedding each other; the nights were the worst, though – he'd wanted to spend them with Freya as well, but there were insufficient bunks in the cabins for Jarp, Tyr and Kyrre to share, and despite the fact that Kyrre and Agni were betrothed, they were not bedding together since Agni wished to wait for when they were hand-fasted and Kyrre, with more patience than Treysti possessed, had agreed with her decision.

Treysti didn't know exactly what Freya had told Tyr, but that she'd spoken to him, he did know. The shape-shifter still tended to glower when he saw Treysti and his mother together on the promenade deck, or seated beside each other for meals, but so far he hadn't offered Treysti any violence, nor even a threat of it.

Freya hadn't said anything about the future yet, so he had kept silence himself, but he was determined to broach the matter before too much more time had passed.

They hired horses in Gergis, since Freya and her companions had left theirs in Bryggen to spare them the sea crossing; they also bought three tents and supplies since there was only one town between Gergis and Imus Ager, but it was three days' ride from Gergis, which meant they would be camping along the way.

Treysti was hopeful that he and Freya would be sharing a tent: she hadn't said anything to confirm or deny this, but there had been a mischievous twinkle in her eyes when she was negotiating with the merchant to purchase the tents, which had made him feel hopeful. 

It was mid-afternoon when they set out from Gergis, and the worst heat of the day was past, so they had a few hours of riding ahead of them before it got too dark to see. Treysti rode at Freya's side, and he could sense Tyr's main emotion by now was resignation to the situation. Treysti wondered if Tyr hoped his interest in Freya was only a passing infatuation, but reckoned it was safer not to disabuse him of such a notion, at least not before he knew Freya's own opinion on the matter.

They talked, as they hadn't done yet, of their experiences of being a far-seer. To some sorcerers it was the most baffling of the sorcerous talents because it was completely unpredictable: no one could foretell when they would be given a vision of the future, nor how detailed or useful that vision would be once it came. Treysti's visions so far had centred on events that were to occur in the short-term, and had mostly been of the vaguer variety. Indeed, the one concerning the arrival of Freya and her companions had been the most detailed of the dozen he'd had since experiencing his first vision twenty-five years ago: he'd known there were four sorcerers coming, two male and two female, and which day they'd be arriving in Bryggen, but nothing more beyond those few facts.

"What's the most detailed far-seeing you've experienced?" he asked as they rode side by side towards the lowering sun.

"The death of my husband, nine years ago."

He looked at her quickly, an apology on his lips, but she gave him a smile. "It's all right," she said softly. "I don't mind talking about it."

"If you're sure," he said quickly.

"I'm sure." She smiled again. "Konja was a shape-shifter – that's where Tyr gets it from, of course – and he'd gone out hunting for meat. It was winter, and bitterly cold, though not quite as harsh a winter as the one we've just experienced. He went in wolf form, which was his preferred animal form, and he was just below the Kapp Koburg pass when he got caught in a very bad snowstorm. Unfortunately he was injured when a spruce tree was blown down and broke his lower back. I had to wait for the winds to subside before I could go after him, with two of my fellow wind-walkers to help me bring him back to the steading." She paused a moment and Treysti waited, feeling angry with himself for bringing up the matter, before she resumed, "We got him back to the steading, but he died that night – he'd contracted hypothermia during the twelve hours we'd been forced to wait before we could reach him."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

She shook her head. "These things happen. While I may have lost my husband and two daughters, you've lost your mother and both your sisters. None of us is immune to loss."

"No, but – "

"Treysti, my dear boy, don't."

He gave her a startled look, wondering a little at the tone of her voice. "Don't what?"

"I can tell you're one of those sensitive souls who blames himself far too much and quite unnecessarily. You need not feel any guilt for initiating this conversation – it was a perfectly natural question to ask, given our shared sorcerous skill. And after all this time, I am over the worst pain and grief. If I were not, I would not be bedding you. And you are by no means the first man or woman whom I have bedded since Konja's passing." 

He gave a nod, his thoughts slightly in turmoil. He could sense Freya's sincerity, so he knew she wasn't just saying these things to make him feel better, but he hadn't expected such frankness from her.

"I think this looks like a good place to camp, don't you?" she suggested, reining in her horse and pointing with her riding crop at an oasis a short distance away from the road they'd been following. There were shrubs and trees around the edge of the oasis, meaning they'd have firewood, and somewhere to tether the horses.

"It looks perfect," Treysti agreed, and led the way off the road.

The four men set up the tents while Freya and Agni gathered wood, got the fire going, and began preparing the supper. Once the tents were up, Kyrre came to help, while the other three went to look after the horses, grooming and feeding them.

By the time the saddlebags were stowed in the tents, the food was ready, and they settled themselves around the fire, Treysti on Freya's right, and Agni on her left. Talk was desultory, since they were all hungry and tired, and no one felt inclined to linger over their meal.

Jarp and Kyrre volunteered to clear up, so Freya got to her feet and stretched, feeling her muscles creak a little, then she glanced down at Treysti and held out her hand to him. He got to his feet quickly, and she could just discern a blush colouring his face as he took her hands in his own.

"Goodnight everyone." She turned and headed towards the tents, ignoring the mulish look on her son's face, and the startled expression on Agni's. "Where are my saddlebags? Or yours for that matter?" she asked in a low voice.

Treysti gestured to the tent farthest from the road. "That's the tent with your bags in. Mine are in the middle tent." 

"We'll take the furthest tent," Freya said. Agni can have the middle one, and the other three can share the tent nearest the road if Agni's going to insist on not bedding with Kyrre before they're hand-fasted."

"I don't know how Kyrre can be so patient," Treysti observed, giving her a roguish look as he lifted the flap on the farthest tent and stepped back to allow her to enter ahead of him. "Wait a moment, and I'll light the lantern."

Freya stood stock still, listening to him opening the slide on the candle lantern, then hearing the noise of the flintlock as he lit the candle inside. She turned towards him as he set down the lantern, and was unsurprised when he immediately wrapped his arms around her, his mouth finding hers for an intense kiss. She kissed him back, equally hard, and felt herself growing aroused, as was he.

"You'd better move Agni's saddlebags and fetch your own before we go any further," she said when they pulled apart to catch their breath.

"I'll be quick," he promised, then moved away to grab Agni's bags before he ducked back through the tent flap.

She took a deep breath, then moved across the tent to where two bedrolls were stacked against the far canvas wall. She unrolled them both, then spread them out, before sitting down to remove her boots.

Treysti came hurrying in, his eyes sparkling with humour, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Agni was just coming to bed herself. She blushed when I handed over her saddlebags."

Freya chuckled, watching as he tossed down his own bags, then removed his own boots. Within moments they were sprawled across the bedrolls, kissing each other with eagerness, and she could feel his hard member pressed against her thigh as he lay half on her.

He reached under her over-tunic and cupped her left breast through her under-tunic, and she moaned into his mouth as she felt her nipple stiffening, and moisture beginning to gather between her legs.

"Too many clothes," he muttered, pulling back and reached for the bottom of her over-tunic. "Someone really needs to start making tunics that fasten down the front."

She chuckled, then sat up so he could remove both tunics, before lying back down again. "Perhaps we could start a new fashion," she said, lifting her bottom so he could pull her trews and drawers down.

"Mmm, it's an idea." He sounded distracted, she noted as he put aside the rest of her clothing before moving to lie beside her again. He lowered his mouth to her breast, and she moaned more loudly as he suckled, then she gasped as he lightly bit on her nipple.

"Treysti." She clutched at his head as he laved her breast, circling his tongue around her nipple. She was growing slick and heated, and she found her desire for him growing urgent. "My darling boy, you've got far too many clothes on."

He chuckled, lifting his head to look down at her, and she saw his gaze was heated. "I suppose I have." He pushed himself up off the bedroll, stood, then stripped with quick efficiency, and she felt her breath hitch as she took in how aroused he was. She could see moisture on the head of his member, and she reached out for him, eager to be joined with him again.

He knelt between her legs, and as she took hold of his shoulders as he slid inside her, she knew that she'd have to try to keep quiet, otherwise it would be even more apparent to everyone what they were doing. Not that she really supposed the others were in any doubt, but there was no need to advertise the fact, and she did have a tendency to be rather vocal when in the throes of passion.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time they reached the town of Duz on the fourth day, everyone had accepted the new sleeping arrangements, and even Tyr seemed to have given up glowering, to Treysti's relief. Not that he believed the shape-shifter was actually happy about the situation – rather he didn't dare to try to argue with his mother.

Accordingly, when they booked into an inn that afternoon, Freya asked for three rooms, and for one of them to accommodate three people. The landlord didn't bat an eyelid at her request, merely gave her the room keys and had his boy show them upstairs. 

They found that their rooms were on a long corridor and that they looked out over an inner courtyard which possessed a stunning fountain, and an intricate mosaic on the ground. Treysti and Freya quickly dumped their bags and hurried downstairs to investigate, fascinated by the glimpse they'd had from the window. 

After looking at the fountain and the mosaic, they wandered out into the town to explore for a bit before dinner. Treysti was startled into a blush of pleasure when Freya took his hand and held it, pressing her forearm and shoulder against his whenever they stopped to look at whatever had caught their attention. With each day that passed, he longed more and more to ask Freya to become hand-fasted to him, but he still wasn't sure that was what she wanted, and he didn't think he could face it if he asked her and she turned him down, so he kept his silence, hoping that she would give him a clue as to whether she wanted a permanent relationship with him.

They wandered into a street full of craftsmen's shops, and Treysti was slightly surprised when Freya headed towards a jewellers, but he followed her through the door, blinking at the dimmer light inside, compared to the bright sunlight outside.

"I want to get you something," she said in a low voice. "Since you got me the eagle brooch."

He felt his cheeks heating up in response, but he forbore from objecting since he was sure she'd be upset; besides, he was curious to see what she would choose for him. They wandered about, looking at pendants, rings, and belt buckles, and it was there that Freya stopped to lift an intricately worked metal belt buckle from the display table. The buckle had on it a vertical bar, shaped like a capital I with a wide U shape overlaid on its top half – it was the symbol sorcerers used to denote mind-speakers, known as the Psi. 

"It's beautiful," Treysti said, staring at it in admiration of the workmanship that had gone into it.

"Yes it is," Freya said, smiling warmly at him. She took his hand again and led the way over to the counter where the merchant was finishing serving a very fussy lady.

Treysti stood with his hands clasped behind his back as Freya negotiated with the merchant over the price of the buckle. He felt a rush of love for her that quite staggered him by its strength, and when she turned around to give him the wrapped buckle, he stammered out his thanks, which made her smile at him.

"Why don't we go back to the inn," she suggested, "and then you can put your new buckle on your belt?"

There was a distinctly naughty glint in her eyes as she spoke, and Treysti knew that once he'd taken the belt off his trews, Freya would not hesitate to take his trews off him. "I'd like that," he told her, aware that his voice had acquired a husky note that reflected the surge of desire that had overtaken him at her words.

"Good." She smirked knowingly at him, and he stifled a gasp when her hand not-so-accidentally brushed against his stiffening member as they moved back out into the street.

"You are a very bad influence, Mistress Freya," he told her in a stern voice.

She chuckled, which did nothing for his self-control since he found her chuckle to be very sexy, then tugged on his arm, setting off back towards the inn at a quick pace, and Treysti hoped desperately that the rest of their party had also gone out.

# # # #

The night before they arrived in Imus Ager, which they reached a few days after leaving Duz, they set up camp and ate as usual then, after supper, Freya surprised Treysti by asking him to go for a walk with her.

He took her hand when she held it out to him, and they walked in an arc away from the camp, but keeping it in sight.

"I've got something to ask you," she said softly, and he wondered if he was imagining it, because she sounded nervous, which seemed unlikely.

"Yes?"

"How would you feel about making our relationship permanent? Becoming hand-fasted, I mean?"

He gaped at her, startled, then grinned and pulled her into his arms. "How soon can we become hand-fasted?" he asked, then kissed her deeply before she could answer the question.

She seemed to melt against him, and he felt his desire, which seemed to be permanently simmering these days, boil up inside him.

Eventually she pulled away, breathing raggedly, and he rubbed her back while she caught her breath. "Once we get back to Boreus Ager," she said. 

He sighed, then nodded. It made sense for her to want to wait and have the ceremony in front of her clan, but he wished it didn't mean waiting at least another week, if not longer.

"You've made me very happy," he told her, ducking his head to kiss her quick and hard.

"Good, because I'm delighted at the prospect."

"What's Tyr going to say?" 

"I don't care what he says," Freya said. 

He chuckled suddenly, and seeing Freya's puzzled expression, observed, "I can't help thinking it's a bit ironic that you made this trip to find a wife for your son, but you're the one who's going to be hand-fasted."

Freya chuckled too. "Believe me, I'm aware of that irony."

"When are we going to tell the others?"

"No time like the present," she answered, and moved out of his embrace, then took his hand in hers as she led the way back to the camp.

Treysti went with her, feeling as if he might float away were it not for Freya's firm grasp anchoring him.

# # # # 

Freya couldn't help feeling nervous the next day as they rode up to the Imus Ager steading; it wasn't that she feared anyone's disapproval for becoming betrothed to Treysti – she was the Dronning after all, and her word was law. But she did wonder how Treysti's aunt Sofia was going to react to the news. Agni, Kyrre, and Jarp had all been obviously pleased for both Freya and Treysti, although she suspected the news hadn't come as much of a surprise. Tyr, she knew, had done his level best to appear pleased for her, but she knew he must find it hard to accept a man who was younger than himself as his mother's husband. She just hoped that either Hel or Kolla would be interested in her son, otherwise he would have to seek a wife among the non-sorcerers, and none of them wanted that to happen.

The Imus Ager steading consisted of two tents; Treysti had explained to her that with so few people left in the tribe, they had chosen to share accommodation because it made it easier for the adults to look after the four orphans. It depressed Freya to think the tribe had been reduced to so few people; bad enough that her own tribe's numbers had been dwindling over the past few years, but to lose seventy-five people in such a short period of time was devastating.

In the event, she found her nervousness was unjustified: Jarp rode a little ahead of them, calling out to the others, and by the time the rest of the group had reached them, the remainder of the Imus Ager tribe were standing outside their tents.

Treysti swung down from his horse, then moved across to lift Freya down from hers, and she found herself fighting a smile at the way he tucked her arm through his as he walked over to where a woman of about Freya's own age stood, her auburn hair streaked with white.

"Aunt Sofia, I'd like to present to you Mistress Freya Idasdatter, Dronning of Boreus Ager – and my betrothed."

To Freya's relief, and Sofia's credit, the latter met this announcement without flinching, or gaping like a fish out of water. She simply smiled, then held out a hand, which Freya clasped in both of hers.

"Welcome Mistress Freya."

"Thank you Mistress Sofia." She pulled the other woman into an embrace, and caught a stifled sob, so she eased back and looked at Sofia, finding her eyes were wet.

"It's all right," Sofia said softly. "I'm very happy for you both. I'm just sad that Treysti's family aren't with us to hear this news – Maire would have been so relieved that her boy's finally going to settle down."

"Even though I'm old enough to be his mother?" Freya asked.

"Even so," Sofia said, her tone firm.

Freya nodded, then moved back and indicated the rest of her party. "Mistress Sofia, I'd like to introduce my son, Tyr Konjasson, and Agni Ilmursdatter, and Kyrre Magnusson, Agni's betrothed. I want to tell you how sorry we all are that your tribe has been so brutally devastated by sickness, and to offer you our assistance in helping you to relocate. We would be glad to welcome you into the tribe at Boreus Ager."

"Thank you." Sofia began to weep at this, and Freya gave Treysti a sideways look. He moved to the other side of Sofia and slipped his arms around his aunt.

"Why don't we go and sit down?" he suggested, and led Sofia towards one of the tents. 

Freya turned to the others, and a grey-haired, stoop-shouldered man of much the same age as herself and Sofia stepped forward. 

"Bisi," he said succinctly. "Why don't we set up your tents, while you, Sofia and Treysti talk?"

"Thank you." 

He stuck out a hand, and Freya, taking it to shake, was surprised to discover that his third and fourth fingers were curled into his palm. She said nothing, however, not wishing to pry, but he must have guessed she'd noticed because he gave her a smile, then explained, "Congenital deformity. Healers can't do anything about it."

"I'm sorry," she began, feeling awkward at being so obvious in noticing the damage.

"Don't be. Not your fault. No one's fault." He patted her arm, then gestured her towards the larger of the two tents. "Ladies are in there."

"Thank you." She nodded to him, then crossed over to the tent which Bisi had indicated.

Stepping inside, she found the tent had been divided into three sleeping areas across the back, and there was a communal area at the front. It was here she found Sofia, Treysti, and a dark-skinned young woman whom she guessed to be Jarp's sister, Kolla. The latter was urging Sofia to drink something, and the older woman accepted the earthenware cup from her with a quiet word of thanks. Treysti sat nearby, watching his aunt intently.

"Are you all right?" Freya asked, aware that this was probably a silly question, but unsure what else to say.

Sofia nodded. "It's just the relief," she explained. "I'm not usually so weak-minded, but the last eighteen moon-cycles were so unrelenting that the thought of finally getting away from here, and starting again knocked me off balance a little." 

Freya sat down beside her and put a hand on her arm. "I understand. But we'll be on our way just as soon as you can be ready to go. I understand it'll be wrench, leaving your homes, but I believe you'll be better off in a bigger community."

"Oh, we're all resigned to leaving Imus Ager," Sofia said. "There's simply no sense in us remaining here when there are too few of us left to sustain the tribe."

Freya nodded, then drew Sofia into telling her about her sister, Maire, Treysti's mother.

# # # #

Outside Tyr, Jarp, Kyrre and Bisi were putting up the last of the three tents they had brought with them from Tunit. Tyr was still trying to sort out his feelings about his mother becoming betrothed to Treysti. He didn't resent her having another chance at being happy: he'd loved his father dearly, and still mourned his loss on some level, but he knew that Freya had already had other, occasional, lovers in the last four years. He supposed that he would have liked Treysti if it hadn't been for the fact that he was bedding with Freya, or, more accurately, the fact that he was a few years younger than Tyr himself. He supposed that he was jealous of them both because he himself had yet to find a wife, and it was clear to everyone that they loved each other – it wasn't just lust, or Freya would never have proposed that they become hand-fasted.

He sighed heavily, then turned to check that the tent was pegged securely, only to find himself confronting two young women. The first was a fair-skinned beauty with dark hair and grey eyes, and he judged her to be in her early thirties; the second was dark-skinned with dark hair and eyes, and appeared a few years older. He realised the dark-skinned one must be Jarp's sister, Kolla, who was both a mind-speaker and a shape-shifter, which meant the second one was Hel, who was also a mind-speaker.

"Hello, you must Freya's son, Tyr. I'm Kolla," she said, offering a hand. 

He shook hands and agreed that she had identified him correctly. 

"This is Hel," she said, and Tyr offered his hand to her in turn. 

She took it, eyeing him intently, and he felt a stirring of interest in response to her clear awareness of him. "How do you do, Hel?"

"You look like you could do with some refreshment," she observed. "Why don't you come with me?"

He smiled. "Thank you. I am feeling rather warm."

She crooked a finger at him in a rather commanding manner, and he followed her as she led him away from the tents; he felt curious as to where they were going since he'd assumed all the refreshments must be in the women's tent. 

Hel, however, led him to a river about ten minutes walking distance from the steading. "I thought you would like a swim," she said, and began removing her clothes.

Tyr was startled by her obvious lack of inhibition, but he wasn't about to object, and he swiftly removed his own clothing, aware that she would be able to see how she had affected him already.

She eyed his member, which swelled further in response to her scrutiny and his arousal, and gave him a satisfied smile. Then she grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the water. "Come on. We can play later."

He grinned, then allowed her to lead him into the river, enjoying the chill of the water on his heated body. They spent about twenty minutes swimming from bank to bank, then Hel caught hold of his arm and pulled him towards her. He was surprised by how strong she was, but didn't have time to give it much thought because her other hand reached for his member which, despite the chilly temperature of the river, had remained fairly erect. He moaned as she ran her hand from root to tip, then back down again, before she squeezed his testicles. 

"Gods, Hel!" he gasped as she continued to stroke his member.

"Come on," she said, and turned towards the far river bank, her hand still clasping his erection.

They waded out of the river, then she pushed him down to the ground, and straddled his body. 

"I hope you've got lots of stamina Tyr Konjasson, because you're going to need it," she observed, then lifted herself up and guided his member inside her heat. 

"Gods!" He clutched at her hips as he felt her slick walls clamp around his erection, and he hoped fervently that no one would come looking for the two of them too soon.

# # # #

Kolla watched Hel lead Tyr away with a resigned expression. Since Freya's son was also a shape-shifter as she was, she would have liked to talk with him, but she knew full well that she wouldn't get the chance any time soon. Once Hel had her hooks in a man, he was oblivious to anyone else until Hel was done with him. Kolla did her best to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but she and Hel had never got on well – not since Hel had broken her brother's heart four years ago. Jarp, poor fellow, had fallen head over heels in love with Hel, and heeded none of his sister's warnings, convinced that he wouldn't be like the others whose hearts Hel had broken. He had thought that he was different, and Kolla had been forced to watch and wait in silence for the inevitable, knowing that there was nothing she could do except help him to pick up the pieces once Hel moved on to the next man who caught her eye. 

She disliked the way Hel treated men as if they were mere playthings, and the fact that Hel generally behaved as if she was too good for everyone else didn't help matters. She scowled after the departing pair, then turned her attention back to the rest of their visitors. She had left Sofia and Freya deep in conversation about the arrangements for the journey to Boreus Ager, so now she looked to see if Kyrre and Agni were in need of anything.

She found the pair with the four orphaned children: Kyrre was telling them about the snow on the mountain where Boreus Ager was situated. Of course, none of the four had ever seen snow, any more than Kolla herself had, and she sat down cross-legged beside Kylli, the eldest of the two girls, then lifted Marja into her lap, where the seven year old happily snuggled up against Kolla.

The youngest of the boys, Osmo, shifted so that he could lean against Kolla's shoulder, and she dropped a kiss on his hair, then glanced sideways at Sveinn, who was sitting on the other side of Kylli, and looked as rapt as his sister.

She wondered how the children were going to cope with the journey ahead as it would be far more tiring for them, especially Osmo and Marja, than for the adults. Even Kolla was feeling slightly daunted at the prospect of a journey of several hundred miles to a place she had never been, and although she was an adult and could rationalise her unease, she knew it would be a tiring trip. She found herself wondering if any of Freya's group were wind-walkers like her brother Jarp – could they take the children on ahead to Boreus Ager, then rejoin the rest of the party? The problem with that, she thought, was that wind-walking with another person was tiring, and moreso over long distances, so Jarp and whoever else went with him, would need to rest for at least a day, probably longer since the journey was several hundred miles, before they could make the return trip.

She was pulled from her reverie by Sofia calling her name from the entrance to the women's tent, and she got to her feet carefully since Marja had fallen asleep in her arms.

"Let me," Agni said, and held out her own arms to take the seven year old from her. Nothing loath, Kolla handed the little girl over, then crossed to speak to Sofia.

"Where's Jarp, do you know?"

"I think he and Bisi went to begin packing up their belongings," Kolla said. "Do you want me to fetch him?"

"Yes, please."

Kolla gave Sofia a nod, then crossed the steading to the men's tent. She stuck her head through the opening and saw her brother was packing books into a saddlebag.

"Sofia's looking for you," she told her brother.

He straightened, rubbing at the small of his back, and gave his sister a nod. 

"Do you want me to finish doing that for you?" she asked.

"Do you mind?"

"Of course not, or I wouldn't have offered."

"You're a star."

She shook her head fondly at him, then went to take his place, noticing he'd packed the saddlebag in a haphazard fashion, and pulling the books back out to start again.

"Should I ask where Hel is?" Bisi asked.

Kolla looked up at him, and saw the wry expression in his eyes. "She took Tyr swimming."

Bisi snorted. "She doesn't hang around, that one." 

His tone was rather bitter, and Kolla abruptly remembered that his son, Api, had been one of Hel's victims a few months before he'd succumbed to Helminths disease. Api had been one of those well-intentioned, but somewhat gullible, people who are all too easily led into believing things that others know were foolish. As soon as Kolla had realised that Hel had set her sights on Api, she'd warned Bisi, but Api hadn't listened to his father: Hel had been kind to him, therefore anything she wanted, she should have if Api could give it to her. Api had taken Hel's subsequent rejection of him worse than any man who'd ever fallen into her clutches, and Kolla had finally lost her patience – along with her temper – and given the other woman a lengthy and strongly worded lecture, to which Hel had responded with her customary scorn and disdain.

"It's a shame they none of them take heed of any attempt to warn them off," Bisi said, and Kolla nodded. 

"Let's hope she grows bored of Tyr quickly," she said, with a grimace of distaste. "Although I dread to think about the havoc she's going to wreak once we reach Boreus Ager."

"You should speak to Mistress Freya," Bisi said. "Perhaps she'll have some idea of how to put a spoke in Hel's wheels."

"It's worth a try," Kolla said thoughtfully. "Mistress Freya definitely needs to know what she's letting herself in for by accepting Hel into the tribe." She finished packing Jarp's saddlebag, and fastened it securely, then smiled at Bisi. "I'll go and see if I can have a word with Mistress Freya now."

Bisi nodded, and Kolla made her way out of the men's tent, then headed towards the women's tent just as Jarp emerged. 

"I've packed your books for you," she told her brother. "You really ought to learn how to pack better, though."

He chuckled. "Thanks sis."

She gave him a smile, then stepped into the women's tent, determined to give Freya the warning she and Bisi felt was necessary.

# # # #

Freya sat back, feeling satisfied with the arrangements she, Sofia, and Jarp had made for getting the four orphaned children of Imus Ager to Boreus Ager. They had decided to take the boat to Bryggen, then to wind-walk with the two youngest – but rather than try to make the trip to Boreus Ager in one journey, they would break it down into stages, with a night's rest in between each stage, in order to avoid over-exhaustion. Freya reckoned they could make the trip from Bryggen to Boreus Ager in four days, they would then wind-walk back in the same four stages, and rejoin the rest of the party in Bryggen, from where they would journey back to Boreus Ager in the more conventional manner.

"Might I have a word, Mistress Freya?" 

Freya nodded at Jarp's sister, Kolla, who had a very serious expression on her face. She glanced sideways at Sofia, and was surprised to see that her expression had also turned solemn, and she wondered why.

"What is it?" Freya asked.

"It's about your son, Tyr," Kolla began, and Freya felt a surge of alarm, which must have shown in her face, because Kolla hastened to reassure her, "He's all right. It's just that he's fallen into the clutches of Hel Linveigsdatter."

"Fallen into the clutches," repeated Freya. "You make that sound very ominous."

"Yes, well I'm afraid it is rather ominous. Hel has a very bad habit of treating men as mere playthings. She makes them fall in love with her, takes what she wants from them, and then when she grows bored, she moves on to the next man."

Freya looked from Kolla to Treysti and Sofia, and the other Dronning nodded. "It's true, I'm afraid. She's been behaving this way since her teens, when she first discovered boys. No one has been able to make her understand that she's being unnecessarily cruel in treating men in such a manner. I'm afraid Linveig, her mother, was a rather weak-minded woman, and once she had finally birthed a daughter, after four sons, she spoilt Hel and treated her like she was the direct heir of the Dronning. As a result, Hel has an over-inflated sense of her own importance, and she believes that she can do whatever she wants, and get away with it. Unfortunately none of us have ever been able to prove her wrong." 

"And you're about to welcome her into your tribe, where there are three clans of men, not all of whom are betrothed or hand-fasted," Kolla added. "Not that it will necessarily protect them, even if they are."

"What do you mean?" asked Freya sharply.

"Hel has, on a handful of occasions in the past, seduced men who were already hand-fasted or betrothed," Kolla said, a bitter note in her voice.

Freya was horrified. Sorcerers took their hand-fasting bonds very seriously as there were far too few of them to risk broken relationships between couples; this was also the reason why all their children were cherished by the entire clan, not just the child's parents. The whole reason Freya had come all this way, after all, was to find a wife for Tyr so that her own line could be continued following the loss of her own daughters, neither of whom had yet been hand-fasted (although both had been betrothed). 

"What happened to the couples involved?" asked Freya.

"Three of them remained together, two did not," said Kolla. "Of the two that did not, the wife of the younger couple took her own life – and she had been pregnant, though no one had known it except her own mother."

A surge of rage roared through Freya's mind, and she thought, distantly, that it was just as well that she wasn't a weather-worker, otherwise she probably would have called down a storm on Hel's head.

"Maybe you will be able to make her see the error of her ways," Sofia said, and Freya saw the hopeful expression in the other woman's eyes.

"I shall certainly do my best," Freya said grimly. "Where is this young woman?"

"She took Tyr swimming in the river," Kolla answered.

"Show me the way, please." Freya got to her feet, as did Treysti, but she shook her head at him. "This is a woman's work," she told him.

"Of course, Mistress Freya."

She flicked a brief smile at him, acknowledging the fact that he was speaking so formally because he knew that she was taking on the role of Dronning for the survivors of Imus Ager as well, then she followed Kolla out of the tent.

Sofia waited until she was sure Freya was out of earshot, then she turned to Treysti. "You've done well there, my boy. She's rather older than the woman I thought you might bring home, but she'll be good for you – and you'll be good for her, too, I think." She held out her arms and he moved in close to hug her.

"Thank you, Aunt Sofia. It means a lot to me that you approve." He held her for several minutes, then she patted his back, so he pulled away and took the seat Freya had vacated. "And she's still fertile," he said, "so we may yet have children together."

Sofia raised an eyebrow at this piece of information. "Now how would you know that?" she asked curiously.

He gave a half shrug. "I don't know, aunt, I just know."

"Well, well, you always were one for knowing unexpected things, even as a small boy." She patted his arm. "I hope you do have children because you'll make a good father, I know. I've seen the way you are with the orphans, and the way they are with you."

He smiled. "I was thinking about asking Freya if we could adopt Osmo and Marja. I'm just not sure how she'd feel about taking on someone else's children."

Sofia patted his arm again. "You're a good boy, Treysti. You can only ask – and she'll either say yes or no. But I'd wait until you're actually hand-fasted before you ask."

"Very well."

# # # # 

Tyr woke from his post-coital doze to find Hel was stroking his flaccid member, and he lifted his head to look at her. "You're rather insatiable," he observed.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well if you're not interested – or don't have the stamina, after all – I can always try my luck with that rather serious-looking fellow you brought with you." She smirked at him. "Or there's Treysti. I've never actually bedded him, you know. He was interested in me, of course, as all men are, but I turned him down. Still, it's never too late."

She ducked her head and slid Tyr's stiffening member into her mouth, and he bit back a moan as he fought to keep his composure. "You're too late for both Kyrre and Treysti," he told her. "They're both hand-fasted, Treysti to my mother."

Hel continued to suck until he was fully erect, then pulled his member out of her mouth with a loud pop. "So? You don't want him to marry her, do you? You hate the idea, because he's younger than you are, and you think it's absurd for a woman of her age to be bedding a man young enough to be her son."

Tyr pushed himself up into a sitting position and stared at her. "How the gods do you know that?" he demanded.

Hel smirked at him. "I am a mind-speaker," she reminded him.

"But I'm not."

She laughed. "As if that makes any difference. I can read anyone's emotions – of course if their emotions are very strong, that makes it much easier, but you being a mind-speaker isn't necessary."

Tyr scrambled to his feet, furiously angry now. "How dare you?" he demanded. "That is a gross violation of people's privacy."

Hel sat back on her heels and scowled up at him. "You're not going to be all tedious, are you, Tyr?" She attempted what she probably thought was a seductive smile, but Tyr was far too angry to want any more to do with her.

"Stay out of my sight," he snarled, sounding very much like his bear-self. He strode away, wading across the river, and scooped up his clothes; he'd never wanted to get away from someone as badly as he did right now, and being naked never bothered him.

# # # # 

Freya was surprised when she and Kolla spotted Tyr striding towards them, his clothing in a bundle under his right arm, and an expression of incandescent fury, which Freya recognised all too well, on his face.

He came to a halt a short distance from them, then dropped his clothing and began pulling it on, and Freya guessed he'd only just registered he was still naked. 

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"That bitch," he began, and she blinked at the venom in his voice as much as the word he'd used: he was normally quite courteous to women. "Hel just told me that she can read anyone's emotions, whether they're a mind-speaker or not."

"You're not joking, are you?" demanded Kolla, and Freya could hear the matching anger in the younger woman's voice.

"I wish I was," Tyr said as he quickly fastened his boots. "She repeated to me what she knew of my feelings about – " He paused, and Freya saw the two red spots of anger in his cheeks grow, and she guessed what he was going to say, but she didn't interrupt. "Hel read my emotions concerning you and Treysti becoming hand-fasted," he finished, then shrugged. "I apologise, mother, for being obnoxious about it. Hearing her repeat back to me what I felt has made me realise how childish I've been." 

"My dear son," she said quietly. "I did understand your reaction, so I don't hold it against you."

He closed the distance between them and clasped her shoulders. "I am sorry," he said simply. "I hope you and Treysti will be very happy together." He smiled a little wryly. "It seems likely you will be because I know that he's already completely devoted to you."

Freya lifted her arms and embraced him, patting him on the back. "I forgive you," she said softly. 

He pulled back a little way, then said, "Hel also revealed that she was quite prepared to seduce, or attempt to seduce, either Treysti or Kyrre."

Freya nodded. "Yes, I was actually coming to talk to her about her behaviour, as I've been told she's seduced men who were betrothed or already hand-fasted in the past." She rubbed the side of her nose with her forefinger, her brow creased in thought. "But what you've revealed about her habit of reading the emotions of others makes me think that she's a more serious problem than I'd initially supposed. I think I need to talk to at least Sofia and Bisi about this before I speak to Hel."

Tyr nodded, and the three of them headed back to the steading. 

# # # # 

Sofia, Bisi, Kyrre, Kolla and Treysti joined Freya and Tyr in a conference regarding what Hel had revealed to Tyr. Since Kyrre, Treysti, and Kolla were all mind-speakers, Freya wanted their input into the discussion, and as Sofia and Bisi were the only remaining elders of the Imus Agni tribe, it was right that they should also be involved.

"I wonder if Hel's developed the ability to read anyone's emotions because both her parents were mind-speakers," Treysti suggested.

Freya frowned in thought, then glanced over at Kyrre. "You're the scholar," she observed. "Have you come across anything that implies that this is the likely explanation?"

Kyrre considered for a few minutes, then nodded. "I have. There was a mind-speaker of our tribe, some four centuries ago, named Arne Hannaysson. He was the son of two mind-speakers, and he reported an ability to read the emotions of other people, even those who were not mind-speakers. It developed as he grew older, and he speculated that it was related to the mental exercises he carried out on a daily basis in an attempt to strengthen his mind-speaking ability so that he could converse with other mind-speakers over much greater distances."

Kyrre flushed slightly, and Freya wondered if it was because unused to discussing his other sorcerous skill with those who did not share it. "Arne gradually found himself able to read the surface of the minds of anyone whom he encountered – read their emotions, that is – and he had to teach himself new ways to shield his mind from those of others. Those of you who are not mind-speakers may not be aware that those of us who are can usually only sense the minds of those around us in the same way that you can hear background noises: the sounds of birds or the wind in the trees. The sounds are there, but you don't normally focus on them. In the same way, we're aware of the minds of everyone, even those who are not mind-speakers, which is why we're taught how to shield our minds at a young age. If we didn't, we'd be in danger of being deafened by the background noise of being surrounded by the minds of others."

Freya nodded her understanding of Kyrre's explanation, then looked at the others. "The question is, what do we do about Hel?" she asked. 

"What I want to know," Tyr said, "is why Hel has never quickened with child – if she's been bedding with so many men for so many years, how is it that she's never borne a child?"

"She must be barren," Sofia said. "That's the conclusion we came to, at any rate."

"Unless she's found a way of preventing herself from quickening," Tyr said darkly.

Freya glanced at the other two women, and saw that they looked as shocked at the suggestion as she felt. "How?"

Tyr shrugged. "I'm a man, so I cannot answer that, but maybe you should ask her?"

# # # #

Some time later Bisi, who had left Freya, Sofia, and the mind-speakers in discussion in the women's tent, looked up as Hel came into the steading, and got to his feet. "Mistress Freya and Mistress Sofia wish to speak with you," he told her.

She threw him a haughty look, then tossed her hair, and crossed towards the women's tent without deigning to speak to either man.

"I've a feeling she's about to get her due," Jarp observed as Bisi sat down again.

"I hope so," Bisi answered. "It's about time she did."

"What do you think of Tyr?" asked Jarp after a few minutes silence. The latter had gone with Agni to take the orphans for a ride.

"Well, I haven't talked to him much yet, but I like the fact that he thinks for himself – and he's the first man ever to have avoided getting sucked into Hel's trap." He glanced sideways at the younger man. "Why do you ask?"

"I think Kolla's interested in him."

Bisi nodded. "Well, I think she could do worse than get to know him better. Although there's no reason for her to pick a man right now, not when there are a number of unattached men in Boreus Ager, by Freya's report." He smiled at Jarp. "And maybe you'll find yourself a woman."

Jarp frowned. "Doesn't seem very likely," he said. "After all, Freya and Tyr came all this way in the hope of finding a woman for Tyr."

"Ah, true." Bisi rubbed his chin. "I'm sorry about that, lad. You should be settled down by now, and surrounded by a loving family."

"I would like that," Jarp said, his wistful tone not escaping Bisi's attention.

Bisi heaved a silent sigh, thinking that the gods had been particularly cruel to destroy his tribe to such an extent. He also considered it unfair that an older man like him had survived, when there was a young man like Jarp left without the chance of becoming hand-fasted and having a family of his own.

He looked across at the women's tent and wondered how Hel was faring against Freya.

# # # #

"Hel Linveigsdatter, do you deny that you have used your sorcerous skills to spy on the emotions of others so that you could manipulate them?"

Hel gave a shrug. She was sprawled in the chair opposite Freya and the others, her legs spread wide as if in invitation. "You make it sound like a crime," she drawled, "but I just used the talent the gods gave me."

"You perverted your talent," Freya said, and although her voice was calm, Treysti realised that his betrothed was far angrier than he'd ever imagined her capable of becoming; he resolved that he would never do anything to make her so angry with him.

"Did you also pervert your talent to keep yourself from bearing a child?"

Hel scoffed. "I had no need," she answered. "Sofia taught me that."

Sofia stiffened in her chair and Treysti saw the outrage in his aunt's expression. "I did no such thing."

Hel glowered. "Yes you did. When I was nine years old, and my mother was pregnant again – the baby died in her womb, and you gave her herbs to flush it out of her body, otherwise you said it would kill her." 

Sofia looked stricken at the recollection, and Treysti leaned over in his chair to take her hand in his. He knew that she had had to deal with such matters only a handful of times over the years, but each time she found it almost as devastating as did the parents.

"On how many occasions did you use herbs to rid yourself of a baby?" asked Freya, her tone still icy.

"Four." Hel's defiance was beginning to waver, Treysti noticed, as if it was finally coming home to her that she was in a lot of trouble.

Sofia looked utterly stricken when Hel gave the number of her dead children, and Treysti tightened his hold on her hand. 

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Sofia asked, her tone anguished. "If you didn't want to raise them yourself, someone else would have done."

Hel snorted. "Would you?" she asked. "One of them was your husband's after all."

Sofia went white. "I – No – You lie!" she gasped.

"I do not lie," Hel said angrily. "I was sixteen, and you had just given birth to your fourth child. Your husband caught me swimming nude in the river some distance from the steading. He wanted me, since you would not have him, so engrossed were you with your new baby. We bedded together several times until you let him back into your bed, and I fell pregnant for the first time after being with him."

Sofia was weeping by the time Hel finished, and Treysti could barely restrain himself from attacking the younger woman, so angry was he. He looked across at Freya and saw that she was also seething with anger.

"Kolla, would you please ask Tyr to come in here if he's back from his ride with the children?"

Freya's biting tone boded ill for Hel, Treysti felt, and he wondered if Freya was going to have Hel executed: she would be well within her rights under their laws.

Kolla came back with Tyr, and Freya requested that he take Hel outside and restrain her somewhere, adjuring him strongly not to let her out of his sight.

His expressions solemn, Tyr easily pulled Hel to her feet, and led her out. Hel no longer looked self-satisfied, and Treysti wondered just how scared she was feeling. 

"Mistress Sofia," Freya said formally. "I believe that you and the remaining members of your tribe should be the ones to decide Hel's fate since you are the ones to whom she has caused the greatest injury. Perhaps you had better fetch Bisi and Jarp, Kolla, while I will find Agni."

Freya got to her feet, and Treysti stood too, then embraced her briefly, before she went out with Kyrre at her heels.

# # # #

As Freya led him away from the women's tent in search of Agni, Kyrre asked, "What fate do you think they'll choose for Hel?"

Freya shook her head. "I'm not sure. I think Sofia and Kolla will want her death. But I suspect Bisi and Jarp will argue for making her an outcast, which will be easily achieved since we'll be departing within a day or so – if they make her an outcast, we can just leave her behind when we go away."

"What would you choose?" he asked, and she heard the curiosity in his voice.

"I think I would execute her." Seeing his surprised look, she added, "Hel can use her sorcerous skills on anyone, which means no man is safe from her – having her in any community is like subjecting everyone to a slow-acting poison. I won't have her at Boreus Ager at any price."

Kyrre nodded, then smiled at the sight of Agni and the four orphans playing a game together. Freya smiled too, then settled on the ground beside the twins, Osmo and Marja, both of whom immediately tried to climb into her lap. She laughed softly, then stretched out her legs and lifted Osmo onto one and Marja onto the other.

"You'll have to sit nicely," she told them both, "or you'll fall off my lap."

They giggled, and she put an arm around each one to hold them steady. Kyrre, meanwhile, found himself with Kylli snuggling close, while Sveinn seemed equally at home cuddled up to Agni. Kyrre suggested that they play a rhyming game, which the children seemed happy to join in, and they were soon deeply engrossed in to find rhymes for the various things suggested by Agni and Kyrre. 

Freya found it hard to keep her attention on the game, however; she was waiting for someone to come and tell her what punishment the Imus Ager sorcerers had decided on for Hel.

# # # #

An hour of discussion had passed before Treysti went to fetch Freya to tell her of the decision he and the others had made regarding Hel's fate. He wondered what Freya would make of their decision – whether she would think they had made the right choice, or not. It had not been an easy judgement to make, and his aunt Sofia had surprised him by being the one who advocated for leniency to Hel. After the revelation that Erri, Sofia's husband, had bedded with Hel, and more than once, Treysti had expected his aunt to urge them to execute Hel, but she had argued that it would be a greater punishment to leave Hel here in the steading with sufficient rations to last for a few days.

Freya stopped Treysti before they had quite reached the entrance to the women's tent, and hugged him. He returned her embrace, then kissed her very tenderly, aware of her anxiety, and found himself hoping that they could have some time to themselves soon so that he could shower her with tenderness.

She gave him a smile, then stepped out of his arms and squaring her shoulders, crossed to the tent entrance and went in, Treysti following closely behind her.

"Mistress Sofia, have you come to a decision regarding Hel Linveigsdatter?" Freya asked in a formal tone.

"We have, Mistress Freya."

"And is it the decision of you all?"

"It is, Mistress Freya."

"What is your decision?"

"We have decided that Hel Linveigsdatter shall be made an outcast from our tribe. We will leave her in the Imus Ager steading when the rest of us ride away to go with you to Boreus Ager. We will leave her sufficient rations for several days, and shelter, but no horse will be left for her."

Treysti watched as Freya looked around at them all, then gave a nod. "It shall be done." She sighed. "Do you wish me to tell her of your decision?" she asked Sofia.

Treysti's aunt shook her head. "No, I will do that."

"Do you wish me to come with you?"

Sofia shook her head a second time. "No. You and Treysti should have some time together." She gave Freya a half-smile. "Get him to show you the pool where we go to bathe," she suggested.

Freya nodded, then embraced Sofia, before turning to look at Treysti, who held out his hand to her and led her out of the tent.

"A swim sounds wonderful," she said, leaning her shoulder against his arm.

He smiled down at her. "Some privacy sounds even more wonderful to me."

Freya laughed, which had been his intention. "You're a bad boy, Treysti Sefisson."

"Mmm. Does that mean you'll have to punish me?"

She gave him a look, which made him smirk, even as he felt his member beginning to swell in anticipation.

They reached the pool and Treysti led Freya along the edge until they reached a spot with some scrubby bushes and a few trees, where they undressed quickly, then dived into the pool. They swam about for a bit, then Freya pulled herself back out and lay down in the sun. Treysti stayed in the water, watching her for a few minutes, until she lifted her head and gave him a pointed look.

"Are you going to stay there until your member shrivels up, or are you going to come over here and put it to good use?"

Treysti chuckled. "Well, how can I possibly ignore an invitation like that?" he asked, and pulled himself out of the pool.

# # # #

When they returned to the steading an hour later, they found everyone busy packing their belongings, and Freya felt rather guilty for spending the best part of an hour being pleasured by Treysti, but when she started to apologise to Sofia, she was cut off.

"Don't be silly," Sofia said. "I sent you and Treysti away to have some time to yourselves after the day you'd had. We're nearly done for today, anyway. We'll finish packing the rest tomorrow, and strike the tents, all but the one we're leaving for Hel."

"Where is she?" asked Freya.

"She and Tyr are looking after the orphans," Sofia said. "It was Tyr's suggestion. She was reluctant to do it, but he growled at her in a very bear-like fashion, and ordered her to do as she was bid, so she did."

"What can we do to help?"

"I think Jarp would be glad of Treysti's help, and if you could help Bisi, who's preparing something for everyone to eat, that would be useful."

"Very well." Freya squeezed Treysti's hand, then released it, and he gave her a tender smile before he went off to assist Jarp.

"Your nephew is a good man, Mistress Sofia," Freya observed quietly. 

"Yes, he is, and I believe you'll help him to become an even better one."

Freya felt a blush heat her cheeks at this compliment, then she crossed over to where Bisi was busy at the cooking fire. He greeted her warmly, pausing to kiss her on the cheek with an old-fashioned courtesy that made her blush all over again, before she asked him what he wanted her to do to help.

# # # # 

It was mid-morning when the group finally got on the road to Gergis. They had left a tent and rations for seven days with Hel, and at the last minute she had begged them to change their minds about leaving her behind. Freya could see that the younger woman had finally realised the gravity of her situation.

"We will not take you with us," Freya told her sternly. "You have two choices. Remain here with the supplies we gave you, or choose execution."

"Go then," snarled Hel, her eyes wild, and her loose hair tumbling about her shoulders. "But I curse – " 

She didn't finish the rest of her sentence because Kolla dropped her horse's reins and leapt at Hel, knocking her to the ground. Jarp and Bisi immediately abandoned their own horses to separate the two women, since Kolla seemed to be intent on beating Hel unconscious.

Jarp strong-armed his sister back towards her horse, but when Bisi tried to help up Hel from the ground she knocked his hand aside, glowering angrily up at them all, her top lip split and bleeding, and her right eye half-closed.

"I'll make you regret this," Hel said, and her lips moved silently.

Freya had no idea what Hel said, but the effects were immediate as Treysti, Kolla, and Kyrre all clutched at their heads, crying out in obvious pain, while Sveinn collapsed to the ground beside the horse he was to share with Tyr.

Freya dropped her own reins as she grabbed at Treysti and demanded, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Mental. Assault," he ground out between gritted teeth.

Freya turned, furiously angry, but it was clear Sofia had heard Treysti's response as well because she muttered a word of power, and a crack of thunder echoed overhead before a brilliant bolt of white lightning struck down at Hel, killing her instantly.

Freya stared in astonishment at the badly burned corpse, then lifted her eyes to look at Sofia, feeling a new respect for the other Dronning.

"She had her chance," Sofia said, her voice harsh, then she turned and hurried over to help Sveinn. 

"Are you all right?" Freya asked Treysti, whom she still held in her arms.

"Headache," he muttered. "Awful headache."

"I'll see if Jarp has any herbs," Freya said. She hurried across to where Jarp was already handing herbs to his sister and to Kyrre, and when Freya approached, he offered her more of the same. 

"These'll help," he told her. "I'd better help Sofia with Sveinn – he must be closer to puberty than we guessed."

Freya nodded, thanked him, and turned back to Treysti, noticing that Jarp and Tyr had carried Hel's corpse away and, having transformed into wolves, were digging a grave for the body.

"Here." She handed Treysti the herbs which Jarp had given her, then made him sit down beside her while they waited for the herbs to have an effect. "What exactly did Hel do?" she asked, her arms around Treysti's body as he rested his head against her breast.

"Tried to incapacitate us all," he muttered, "I suspect she was hoping to render us unconscious in order to delay our departure. What she didn't know was that Kolla, Kyrre, and I had conferred after the revelation that she was able to read even Tyr's emotions, and we strengthened our mental shields accordingly. But we didn't realise that Sveinn was so close to puberty and the revelation of his own sorcerous skill." 

He lifted his head to look over at where Kyrre, Jarp, and Sofia were gathered around the eldest of the orphans. Agni and Kolla were doing their best to comfort Sveinn's sister, Kylli, who was weeping in Kolla's arms, and reassure the twins, Osmo and Marja.

"Will Sveinn be all right?" Freya asked. The thought of losing one of the orphans chilled her, and if Sofia hadn't already disposed of Hel, Freya would have done so herself.

"I think so," Treysti answered. "Aunt Sofia is the best healer the tribe ever had, and she trained Jarp herself. Between the three of them, I think he'll be all right."

"Good."

Tyr and Bisi came up together, both of them pulling on their clothes. They each sat down, Tyr next to Treysti, and Bisi on Freya's other side.

"Are you all right?" Tyr asked Treysti, and at that moment Freya knew from the concern in his voice that her son had finally accepted Treysti as her lover.

"I think so." Treysti pushed himself to sit up properly, rubbing at his head, then nodded. "I'll do."

"Good." Tyr sounded genuinely pleased, and Treysti must have noticed that because he held out a hand to the other man, and the pair shook hands in a friendly manner.


	4. Chapter 4

It was another hour before they finally rode out of Imus Ager, having added the supplies they had been intending to leave with Hel to their own. Sveinn was still a little woozy, but he was riding with Jarp so that the latter could keep an eye on him. The three adult mind-speakers had all made a good recovery from Hel's attack, to Freya's relief, and the company as a whole seemed more light-hearted now that Hel was dead. Freya suspected that the prospect of leaving her behind had been weighing on people, despite the fact that it had been a collective decision. 

They rode for two hours before pausing to rest during the hottest part of the day, then they pushed on again, and Freya sensed that the Imus Ager sorcerers were glad to finally leave the place behind after all the sorrow they had lately known there. 

They made good time to the port of Gergis, and while Osmo and Marja most often rode with Freya and Treysti, Sveinn and Kylli preferred to ride with Jarp and Kolla. As they'd travelled, Kolla had begun exploring Sveinn's mind-speaking skills with him, and Freya noticed that Tyr often rode alongside Kolla; she suspected that a closer relationship was beginning to develop between her son and the young woman, but she kept her own counsel, although she felt sure both Treysti and Sofia had also noticed the budding romance.

When they arrived at Gergis, Tyr and Bisi went to find out how soon they could take passage back to Bryggen, and came back to the inn, to which the rest of the party had adjourned, with the good news that they'd been able to book cabins for them for departure the following day.

Dinner that evening was a subdued affair, and Freya guessed that the Imus Ager sorcerers were each, in their own way, dealing with the fact that they were about to permanently leave the land of their birth. She wondered how she would feel in a similar situation, but she somehow couldn't imagine it happening. 

Retiring to their room for the night, Freya asked Treysti if he was all right, and he gave her a warm smile. "You're always looking after other people, aren't you?" he observed. "I suppose it's a result of being the Dronning."

She gave him a half smile. "Yes, I daresay it is. I have to take responsibility for the welfare of a lot of people back home, so worrying about others comes naturally."

He bent forward and wrapped his arms around her, although she was trying to brush her hair. "I do love you, you know," he said softly, nuzzling her neck.

She chuckled. "I know you do, but would you mind unhanding me until I'm in bed?"

He lowered his right hand from her left shoulder, brushing it over her breasts. "Must I?" he asked, and she caught her breath as his hand cupped her right breast, thumbing the stiffening nipple through her clothes.

"Oh gods, Treysti." She felt a surge of desire, and found herself hoping the inn's walls were thick.

He took the brush from her lax grasp, then bent and scooped her up into his arms and carried her across to the bed. He set her down, then tugged off her boots, before hastily undressing her, then himself.

"Freya!" He moaned as she pulled his body down flush with hers, and she kissed him hard. He was fully erect already and she lost no time in guiding his member inside her.

# # # #

The next day they boarded the ship back to Bryggen, and Freya couldn't help feeling a sense of relief that they were heading home at last. She knew that the trip wouldn't be easy, particularly the first part when she and Jarp would be taking Osmo and Marja with them as they wind-walked back to Boreus Ager. Even though they would be breaking it down into stages, it was still going to be exhausting, and they would still have to wind-walk back to Bryggen afterwards.

Tyr, Sofia, and Treysti had all suggested that the two wind-walkers remain in Boreus Ager rather than making the journey back again, but Freya wouldn't hear of it: she couldn't forget Surtr, and while she didn't yet know if he had survived his sword fight with her, the possibility that he hadn't, and that his friends might want revenge for his death, convinced her that it was better if she and Jarp returned to Bryggen to travel with the rest of their party. In the end, Tyr had agreed with his mother that it made sense not to deprive their group of two more fighters should they encounter Surtr again, and his agreement with Freya persuaded Sofia and Treysti that continuing to argue the matter was not going to change Freya's mind.

It was a great relief to everyone that the children proved hardy sailors, and while the younger members of the party spent time playing games with children, Freya, Sofia, and Bisi preferred to concentrate on telling them stories, and helping them to read. Freya noticed that Treysti would often join his elders for these sessions, and since she was always glad to have his company, she didn't tease him about it.

By the time the ship docked in Bryggen harbour, the children were looking forward to seeing the mountain steading, which was a weight off Freya's mind as she had worried that they would be scared at the prospect of becoming part of a new tribe.

They disembarked, and Freya and Tyr set off at the front of the party, leading the way to the Razorbill Inn where they had left their horses, and where they intended to spend the night before setting off fresh the next morning. Treysti had Osmo in his arms, while Jarp carried Marja, the twins having fallen asleep an hour before the ship's arrival in Bryggen. Sveinn was walking between Kolla and Kyrre, continuing a conversation about mind-speaking, while Kylli was holding Bisi's hand and asking him about his shape-shifting skill. None of them were paying much attention to their surroundings, and despite Freya's concerns regarding Surtr, none of them was expecting to be attacked the moment they arrived back in Bryggen. For a long time after that black day, Freya blamed herself entirely for what happened next. 

They had stepped out of the harbour area onto the street that led towards the centre of the town, when someone whistled a quick, sharp, two-note call which it immediately became clear was a signal because suddenly a group of men began converging on the sorcerers from all directions. Those of the party who were not shape-shifters or weather-workers immediately drew their swords, and Freya heard Agni and Sofia urging the two older children to look after the twins; the four orphans became the centre for a circle of adult sorcerers, as each person there resolved to protect the children at all costs. Tyr, Bisi, and Kolla all shed their clothing, then transformed one after the other: Tyr into his favoured bear-shape, Bisi into a lion, and Kolla into a desert eagle.

"Freya, you should take Jarp and get the children out of here," Treysti said urgently in her ear. 

"But – " she began, then shook her head. "You're right, of course." She sheathed her sword hurriedly, then turned and grabbed Jarp's arm, tugging him around to the spot where the children waited.

"We need to take the children somewhere safe," she told Jarp.

"Can we manage to wind-walk with all four of them at once?" he asked worriedly.

"Better not risk it," Freya said. She knelt down beside the children. "Osmo, Marja, uncle Jarp and I are going to take you somewhere safe." She looked at Sveinn and Kylli. "We'll come back for you as quickly as we can, I promise."

Ten year old Sveinn nodded solemnly, his eyes wide with fear, but his jaw firm. He took Kylli's hand, allowing Jarp to pick up Marja, while Freya picked up Osmo.

"We'll be very quick," Jarp promised, and Freya brushed a thumb over Kylli's cheek, where a tear had escaped.

Then Freya took hold of Jarp's free hand, and the pair closed their eyes, and Freya reached for a strong current of air. "We're going to the inn," she told him. "It's the nearest place I can think of that ought to be safe for the children."

"Very well." Jarp's voice sounded steady, Freya was pleased to note, and she gave his hand a brief tug to guide him. They both 'stepped' up onto the current of air, and Freya focused her mind on the Razorbill Inn, picturing the stable courtyard at the back of the inn.

She was vaguely aware of the outcry behind them: screams, shouts, and jeers; the crack of thunder; the roaring of Tyr's and Bisi's animal forms, and the harsh shriek of Kolla's eagle form; then the noise fell away as Freya and Jarp 'walked' along the air current to the inn. There were gasps of surprise as the four appeared out of the air in front of the stable, and the adults opened their eyes to see two startled grooms, and an equally startled inn-keeper staring at them.

"Mistress Freya!" said the inn-keeper as he finally recognised her.

"Erik!" she gasped, slightly breathless, "can you look after these two children, please? My friends and I are under attack by a mob by the harbour."

"Of course," Erik said immediately. "Leifr, run and tell Officer Kusma quickly." The younger of the two grooms raced out of the stable yard immediately, while Erik gestured for Freya and Jarp to follow him inside.

"Come along in," he said. "Will you be bringing any more of your people here in such a manner?"

"There are two more children with the rest of my party," Freya said. "They are slightly older and will keep an eye on the younger pair."

Erik nodded, then called out for Helga, whom Freya remembered was his wife. They heard the clatter of running footsteps, then Helga appeared in the corridor, and Erik hastily explained the situation to her. The pair assured Freya that they would look after the twins, and Freya, after promising Osmo and Marja that they would bring Sveinn and Kylli soon, hurried back out with Jarp at her heels.

The wind-walkers stepped onto another current of air flowing back towards the harbour, both of them picturing their friends in the street they had just come from, and walked rapidly back to their starting point.

They arrived into an explosion of sound, the fury of the violence in the street having intensified in the few minutes they had been absent. There was another kind of explosion as their feet touched the ground, and they both staggered, then fell down, blackness swallowing them almost instantly.

# # # #

Treysti, who had been guarding Sveinn and Kylli with the help of Kyrre, turned just as Freya and Jarp arrived back in their midst, but before he could take more than one step forward, there was an explosion behind Freya, and she and Jarp, the two children, and Bisi, who'd been at Freya's back, all crashed to the street. Treysti staggered backwards, desperately trying to keep his balance, as Tyr and Kolla both went past him, the former roaring his anger, and the latter shrieking hers.

It took Treysti a few moments to work out what had happened since he felt stunned by the force of the explosion. Then he realised that some of Surtr's men had brought along one of the cannons which were kept atop the harbour wall to defend the port against raiders, and discharged the field gun against Freya and her friends.

Treysti and Kyrre hurried forward, just as whistles were heard from the street behind the mob, and the local law officers arrived on the scene. Treysti was not interested in them, however, only in his fallen friends, and he knelt beside Freya, feeling as if his heart was in his mouth as he checked for her pulse. To his relief she was still alive, although there were a lot of heavily bleeding wounds in her legs, and Treysti realised that Surtr's men had discharged some sort of projectile that had disintegrated into lots of smaller pieces on contact, rather than using an ordinary cannonball. 

"Sveinn and Kylli are dead," Kyrre said in a hollow tone, and Treysti took a moment to process the words, then he was fighting back tears as he fully registered what Kyrre had said.

"What about Jarp?" he asked, his own voice husky.

"Alive, but badly injured. What about Mistress Freya?" Kyrre asked.

"The same." Treysti watched as Kyrre got to his feet and crossed to where Bisi's lion form lay sprawled across the cobblestones, but he already knew that his friend was dead. 

Tyr seemed to appear out of nowhere beside him, and he looked up, noting the blood and other gore that streaked his skin now that he was human again.

"Surtr's dead," Tyr said, his voice sounding even more hollow than Kyrre's had just now.

"Good." Treysti's voice was savage with satisfaction. "Freya and Jarp are alive, but badly hurt. Sveinn, Kylli, and Bisi are dead."

At that moment an eagle landed beside them, then transformed, and Kolla threw herself down beside her brother, her expression stricken. Then Officer Kusma appeared, his cap pushed back on his head as he stared down at the people sprawled on the street. 

"We will see to our wounded and dead," Tyr said, before Kusma could utter a word. 

"If you need any more healers," Kusma began.

"We won't," Tyr said, cutting him off firmly. He turned away to touch Kolla on the shoulder, speaking softly in her ear.

Kusma looked after the pair as they went to find their clothing, then turned his attention back to Treysti. "Surtr's dead," he observed.

"So Tyr said," Treysti told him. "Did Tyr kill him?"

Kusma nodded. "Your eagle friend pecked at his eyes, blinding him, then Tyr ripped him limb from limb." He looked pale, despite his darker skin colour, and Treysti felt that he couldn't blame the officer for that – the mental image his words had created was certainly chilling, not that Surtr didn't deserve such a fate as far as Treysti was concerned.

"Do you need help to transport your people?" Kusma asked, and Treysti shook his head.

"No, thank you, Officer. We shall manage."

He looked, Treysti thought, relieved as he nodded. "Very well. I will see about getting the street cleared of the dead and wounded. I would like to call on you soon, if you will permit it, so that I can share with you what I've learned of Surtr – I believe it's something you ought to know."

"Very well. Don't come before tomorrow evening, though, please." 

Kusma nodded, then turned away, and Treysti got to his feet as Tyr returned with Kolla, both now dressed again, Agni and Sofia were close behind. Together the six of them coordinated themselves into getting their wounded and dead back to the Razorbill Inn.

# # # #

Sofia and Kyrre worked on Jarp first as his injuries were less extensive, and they felt they might need a third healer to help them deal with Freya's wounds. Treysti kept a vigil beside his lover's bed; Tyr and Kolla were both exhausted from the battle and he hadn't hesitated to enlist Sofia's help in ordering Tyr not to try to keep watch over his mother. It was a measure of how exhausted he was, and how much he'd grown to trust Treysti, that he didn't make even a token protest. Agni, meanwhile, had chosen to look after Osmo and Marja, who were grief-stricken at the loss of their friends Sveinn and Kylli – there had only been the four of them for so many moon-cycles, after all – and of their uncle Bisi.

It was morning before Sofia and Kyrre, accompanied by a weary-looking Jarp, came into the room where Freya lay unmoving and silent in her unconsciousness. 

"Are you sure you're fit to do this?" Treysti asked Jarp worriedly. He desperately wanted Freya awake and healed, but not at the expense of Jarp's health.

Jarp nodded. "I'll be all right," he promised.

Treysti glanced at Sofia and Kyrre, both of whom gave him a nod of confirmation, so he made no further demurral. He stood up, picked up the chair on which he'd been sitting, and removed it and himself to the far side of the bed in order to give the three healers room to work.

Treysti watched as Sofia set down a bowl, which he surmised contained hot water since it was gently steaming, on the bedside table. Kyrre set a second bowl down beside the first, and Jarp placed some long green leaves next to the bowls.

Kyrre and Jarp carefully lifted Freya into the centre of the bed, and Sofia moved to the foot of the bed; she had taken a cloth from the bowl of water and wrung it out, and she now used it to clean Freya's legs. 

"What's next?" asked Treysti quietly.

"Next we draw on our healing skill and pull the pieces of shot from her wounds," Jarp said, and he moved to the left-hand side of the bed, while Kyrre remained on the right, and Sofia at its foot. Jarp and Kyrre each held one of Sofia's hands, and the three healers closed their eyes and began to speak in such low voices that Treysti was unable to discern their words.

He watched in silent awe as a swirl of golden light, threaded with traceries of blue, settled over Freya's legs. After a few moments he heard a metallic ping, and realised that the light was drawing the shot out of Freya's wounds, then depositing the bits of metal into the second bowl which the healers had brought in.

At length the light dimmed, then vanished, and Jarp took up the leaves, splitting them along their length before placing the inner, sap-filled sides over the wounds. 

"This is Kathalai," Jarp told Treysti, "which promotes the cleansing of lesions." When he'd finished laying out all the leaves, he stepped towards Treysti and pulled up one of the legs of his trews to show the other man how cleanly his own wounds had healed.

"How soon will Freya be able to get up?" asked Treysti.

"Not before tomorrow," Sofia answered. "And we'll not be travelling again for a few days. Nor will she be wind-walking again in a hurry – the concussion she suffered makes that a dangerous prospect." Seeing the stricken expression on his face, she crossed to where Treysti sat and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, lad. She'll make a good recovery – Freya's an indomitable woman, but we will have to take the twins the long way to Boreus Ager. Not that it wouldn't be better to do that anyway, even if Freya was capable of wind-walking straight away – those two need the comfort of familiar faces around them while they grieve."

Treysti nodded, reaching up to hold Sofia's hand with his own. "What are we going to do about Bisi, Sveinn, and Kylli's rites?"

"We'll take care of that as soon as Freya's on her feet again, don't you worry." She squeezed his shoulder. "Now, go and get some food, then go out and get some fresh air." He opened his mouth, but she shook her head. "I'll stay with Freya for now," she told him. "Do as I say, lad, or you'll be falling sick yourself, and you know Freya wouldn't want that."

"Very well, aunt Sofia."

"Good boy."

# # # #

After breaking his fast with Kolla, Agni, Tyr, who was looking more his usual self this morning, Osmo and Marja, Treysti suggested that he take the twins out for a walk with him.

"I'll come with you," Agni said.

Treysti nodded an agreement, then looked at Tyr. "Why don't you go and sit with Freya?" he suggested. "Sofia's up there, but I daresay she'd be glad of the company."

"Yes, I shall." He got to his feet and made his way out of the room, moving rather more slowly than usual, but without limping or demonstrating any other signs of injury. After a few moments Kolla followed him and Treysti hid a smile: he'd had the feeling before that Kolla and Tyr were growing closer, and it now looked as if he was right.

Agni and Treysti gathered up the twins, then made their way out of the inn. By mutual consent they headed away from the direction of the harbour, and instead set off towards the market place.

The children were subdued, which Treysti felt was only to be expected, and he thought again of the conversation he'd had with his aunt Sofia about adopting the twins with Freya. He felt more strongly than ever that it would be a good thing to do, and although Sofia had advised him to wait until he and Freya were hand-fasted before broaching the subject, he had decided that he would ask her about it soon. He believed that it would offer the twins a greater sense of security if they knew that Freya and Treysti would continue to look after them once they reached Boreus Ager. 

It occurred to him that he and the remaining sorcerers from Imus Ager would need warmer clothing once they reached Freya's tribe, and when he mentioned it to Agni, she told him of Hagr, who had made the lightweight clothing she and her friends had purchased to wear in Imus Ager. 

Accordingly, they made their way to Hagr's shop where he measured up Treysti and the twins for their warmer clothing. Treysti checked whether the tailor would be able to provide clothing for the other three members of his party, and Hagr assented cheerfully, so Treysti resolved to send Sofia, Jarp, and Kolla to see him as soon as possible.

"Do you think you'll like snow, uncle Treysti?" asked Osmo as they made their way back into the street.

"Well, I think it will be very, very cold and wet, but I think I will like it if I am indoors and looking at it, rather than having to tramp through it." This brought a giggle from Osmo.

"I want to make snowballs," Marja said very firmly, and Treysti smiled.

"Snowball fights sound like fun," he agreed, "but only if there's a lovely roaring fire when you go back inside, because being cold and wet, and not being able to get warm again would be no fun."

# # # #

Freya woke slowly, aware of a dull ache in both of her legs, and a rather sharper one in her head. She groaned, and a gentle hand wiped her brow with a cool cloth, then a soft voice asked, "Are you with us, my love?"

She opened her eyes, then immediately closed them again as the light seemed far too bright, and the same voice said, "Hold on a moment."

She waited, listening as footsteps passed around the bed, then heard another noise which she couldn't immediately identify. 

"How's that?" asked the voice, and Freya realised abruptly that it was Treysti's.

She opened her eyes cautiously to find the room was much dimmer, and that there were swags of material hanging in front of the window. Treysti leaned over towards her from the window side of the bed and smiled at her, then kissed her brow.

"I'm so glad you're awake," he told her.

She patted the bed beside her, rather feebly, she felt, but he took the hint and settled himself beside her.

"I won't ask how you are, as I expect the answer is that you hurt."

"I do," she answered. "My head and my legs both ache, though my head's worse than my legs."

"Sofia said that you would probably ache," he told her, "and she left something for you to take." He slid back off the bed, and padded around to the other side, where he picked up a small vial of green liquid. He poured this into a tankard, then added some water from the jug on the bedside table, swirled it around briefly, then held it out to her.

Freya took it, but her grip was so weak that Treysti had to keep hold of it for her. Then he took it back and put it down again. "Wait a moment." He slid his right arm under her shoulders and eased some more pillows under her, then grabbed the tankard again. "Here you are."

He held the tankard to her mouth, and she tilted it so as to get the concoction inside her. She wrinkled her nose and screwed her eyes shut in distaste, but swallowed it anyway.

"Now then," he said, once he'd set the tankard aside, and resumed his place next to her. "I promised Sofia on pain of pain that I wouldn't over-tax you once you awoke, but she did say I could answer any questions you might have about yesterday's events."

"Yesterday?" Freya asked, startled. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"A full day," Treysti said.

She frowned at that, until she realised that doing so hurt her head. "What exactly happened when Jarp and I arrived back in the midst of the battle to collect Sveinn and Kylli?"

He told her, holding her hands in both of his as he broke the news of the deaths of the two older children and Bisi, and described the projectile which Surtr's men had used against them. Freya wept at the news of the deaths of Bisi, Sveinn, and Kylli, but expressed a great deal of satisfaction when Treysti told her that Tyr had killed Surtr after Kolla had blinded him.

"I suppose we are in a lot of trouble with the law officers," she observed. 

"I don't think so," Treysti said. "But Officer Kusma is going to come and see us this evening to tell us what he found out about Surtr from the people in Hamarr."

She nodded, then yawned, and he gave her a stricken look. "I should let you get some rest," he said, and started to move away, but she put a hand on his arm.

"You don't have to go away," she said.

He smiled, and shifted so that he could embrace her, and she sighed softly at the comfort of having his arms around her.

# # # #

Treysti hadn't intended to fall asleep, but he must have been more tired than he'd realised after his all-night vigil with Freya, because he woke abruptly as Sofia came into the room.

"What time is it?" he asked softly.

"Dinner time. I came to see if Freya was awake yet, and wanted something to eat."

"She woke up earlier. About an hour ago, I think." He carefully eased his arm out from under Freya, then pushed himself upright, but she stirred, then woke.

"Sofia?"

"Hello Freya. How are the aches?"

"Better than they were the last time I woke up, thank you."

Sofia smiled. "You're welcome. Do you feel up to eating anything?"

"Oh, yes please."

Sofia nodded. "Treysti, will you come downstairs and bring up something for Freya?"

"Of course, aunt." He dropped a kiss on Freya's brow, then slid off the bed and followed Sofia out.

"Officer Kusma sent a note to say he'll be here in an hour to talk to us about what he discovered about Surtr's background, and the reason why he hated sorcerers so much," said Sofia as she led Treysti towards the kitchen.

"Does Erik have a room where we can talk to the Officer in private?" Treysti asked.

She nodded. "I have already asked him that, and he assured me that we can use a room at the back of the inn where they sometimes have meetings."

"Very well, I'll bring Freya downstairs after she has eaten."

Helga appeared at that moment, carrying a wooden tray on which were arranged some plates and bowls. "If you can carry this up to Mistress Freya," she said, "I'll bring up the ale and tankards."

Treysti nodded and took the tray from her, noticing that there was green soup in the bowls, while the plates held smoked fish and oatmeal bread. He set off upstairs again, and after a few moments, Helga followed him carrying a jug of ale in one hand, and the empty tankards in the other.

Treysti immediately noticed that Freya looked rather brighter when he and Helga entered the room, and he felt his spirits rising in relief. She had been so pale this morning, and had seemed quite dazed when she had woken earlier, but there was more colour in her cheeks now, and her blue eyes were clearer, too.

He set the tray down on the bedside table, then took the tankards and jug of ale from Helga, thanking her courteously. 

Within a few minutes they were settled side by side on the bed with their bowls of soup, and Treysti was pleased to see that Freya's appetite had not been impaired by her ordeal.

# # # #

After they had eaten, Helga removed the tray of dirty utensils, then Treysti helped Freya to dress properly, and carefully combed her hair, although it was so short it barely needed it. 

Freya insisted that she wanted to walk downstairs, but Treysti was worried about her falling, so they compromised: he carried her down the stairs, then she walked along the corridor, her arm through his. She had to admit that having Treysti to lean on was a good thing as her legs did feel more wobbly, now that she was on her feet, than she had anticipated.

Tyr met them in the corridor, and Freya released Treysti's arm long enough to allow her son to wrap his arms around her. 

"Treysti tells me you were the one to kill Surtr," she said, and he nodded, his eyes bright with his obvious relief at seeing her on her feet again.

"I did, although Kolla helped." She heard the warmth in his voice at the mention of the young woman's name, and knew that the two shape-shifters were well on their way to becoming a couple.

"Well, I'm glad he's dead," Freya said. "He was nothing but an unmitigated nuisance, to be honest."

Treysti seemed to choke at this remark, which led Freya to raise a quizzical eyebrow at her young lover. He shook his head, however, then offered her his arm, which she took with a smile, and they followed Tyr into the meeting room. The others were already gathered: Agni and Kyrre had their heads together, while Jarp and Kolla were sat on either side of the twins, who seemed to be half asleep already. Sofia sat to one side, and she looked as if she had already nodded off, but as Treysti led Freya to a seat, Sofia's eyes snapped open, and Freya could see that her eyes were bright. 

She smiled at Freya as the latter sank into a chair, and said softly, "I do hope my nephew is taking good care of you?"

"He always does," Freya answered.

Any further conversation between them was curtailed by the arrival of Officer Kusma. He looked smart in his light-weight white jacket and trousers, his cap tucked under his arm. Freya judged him to be around forty-five, although his cropped short hair made him seem younger, she thought. 

He bowed neatly and offered a brisk greeting, "Good evening, ladies and gentleman." 

"Good evening, Officer Kusma. Won't you take a seat?"

"Thank you, Mistress Freya." He pulled out a chair and settled himself comfortably on it. "Now, following the attack of Surtr Hamarrsson on Freya Idasdatter, Agni Ilmursdatter, Kyrre Magnusson, and Tyr Konjasson in the market place here in Bryggen a few weeks ago, I sent one of my men to Hamarr to discover what we could about Surtr Hamarrsson. My man interviewed the Vogt, who lent him the aid of his clerk, Reifnir, to go through the records archive, and what we found goes some way to explaining Surtr's hatred of sorcerers."

He delved into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small notebook, which he laid on the table in front of him. "Surtr was the youngest of a family of four boys. Their father was killed in a mining accident when Surtr was five, then when he was nine his brothers, who were trying to establish a wolframite mine on land that had traditionally been held by your people, got into a dispute over that land with some of the men of the – " He paused to consult the notebook, "Fridasdatter clan, which I gather had had the most to trouble from incursions by Hamarr townsfolk."

He raised his eyebrows enquiringly at Freya, who nodded. "That land dispute ran for nine moon-cycles," she told him. "My people took the Hamarr townsfolk to the Law, and eventually the Law found in our favour." Her tone was bleak and Kusma nodded.

"The judgement came at a high price for both sides," he observed.

"How so?" put in Sofia.

Freya gestured for Kusma to continue his explanation. She suspected that she knew where his narrative was going, but she wanted him to confirm it.

"On learning that the Vogt of the day had found in favour of the sorcerers, the men of Hamarr who had lost out organised themselves into a mob and marched on the steading with violence. Buildings were set alight, and three were completely destroyed, including a grain store, and another building that held a number of horses and cattle, which were burnt alive. Eight sorcerers were killed, including three young women, one of whom was pregnant." 

Kusma paused as a murmur of dismay ran around the room, before he continued. "Twenty two men of Hamarr were also killed, including two of the three brothers of Surtr Hamarrsson. The third was left crippled in both legs and unable to walk, or work. The other brother, together with Surtr Hamarrsson's mother, died during the following winter. Although only nine years old, Surtr did his best to earn sufficient money to buy food and fuel for the family, but it was too little."

"Could no one in the town help them?" asked Agni, and Freya thought it was typical of the younger woman's lack of cynicism that she would ask this question.

Kusma shook his head. "There was a good deal of disapproval for what Surtr's brothers had done since it was the eldest of the Hamarrsson boys who had tried to establish the mine on land to which he had no claim, and it was the second brother, the one who was left a cripple, who instigated the mob attack against the sorcerers. A good many of the townsfolk felt that what had befallen the family was a judgement on them for their behaviour, so they would do nothing to help." 

He paused for another consultation of his notebook before resuming his narrative. "By the time anyone did try to help the family, it was already too late for Surtr's mother, who had fallen ill with a lung disease. Surtr's remaining brother died after falling from his chair while Surtr was out running errands to earn a few kroner; the boy was gone for several hours, and the fire died since Bassi was knocked unconscious by his fall, and unable to add further wood to the fire. Essentially he froze to death."

"I imagine that sealed Surtr's hatred for all sorcerers," Freya observed. 

Kusma nodded. "It did. It wasn't until he was in his teens that anyone learned of it, but when he came home that night and found Bassi dead, he swore an oath to have his revenge on every sorcerer who crossed his path. He was eleven when he killed his first sorcerer, and the Vogt and his clerk now believe that in the intervening thirty years, he has – or rather had – killed as many as two dozen sorcerers in total."

Freya inhaled sharply at this piece of information; she had not expected the number to be so high. Treysti clasped her hand in his and she squeezed it tightly, then made herself relax her grip so that she wouldn't hurt him.

"Were you able to discover anything about his encounter with a wind-walker named Frár? Surtr boasted to me that he had forced Frár to bring him to Bryggen, but as we were engaged in fighting at the time, I didn't get the chance to ask him what had happened, but Surtr implied that Frár was dead."

Kusma nodded. "After he was discharged from jail in Hamarr, he was on the lookout for any sorcerers of your tribe who came into town. Frár and three others turned up a few days later to sell goods at the market; Surtr grabbed him as he was making his way back from the smithy, and forced Frár to wind-walk the two of them here to Bryggen, which Surtr had learned was where you had been heading when you left Hamarr after his arrest."

Freya swallowed hard, a flood of bitterness filling her mind at the thought of Surtr capturing and threatening Frár, who had been a gentle, loving man who cared deeply about people. 

She only became aware that she was crying, her tears sliding silently down her face, when Treysti leaned across to wipe her eyes, and she turned to him with a choked sob, clinging tightly to him.

# # # # 

Treysti did his best to comfort Freya, though it wasn't easy as she was clearly distraught at what she'd heard. He found himself wondering just how close she'd been to the wind-walker Frár, not that he felt any jealousy for a man who was dead and in no position to be a rival to him, but it seemed clear to him that Freya cared deeply about him, or she would not be so upset.

"Do you want me to take you back upstairs?" he asked softly, and she assented, her voice cracking with emotion.

With some difficulty, he lifted her up out of her chair, and murmured an apology to the company at large, before he carried Freya out of the room and up the stairs. Reaching her room, he carried her inside and laid her gently on the bed, then he closed and locked the door.

Turning back to the bed, he found Freya was curled in a ball on her side, still sobbing, and he quickly tugged off his boots, then removed his outer tunic, before getting onto the bed with her.

"Come here, my love," he said, easing his arms around her body. He rubbed her back between her shoulder blades, and murmured wordlessly to her in a soothing tone until eventually her tears subsided and she rolled onto her back, scrubbing at her face.

"Sorry," she muttered, and Treysti wondered if he was imagining things, or if she was as embarrassed as she sounded.

"Don't be," he said quietly. He slipped off the bed and moved around it to grab the cloth he'd been using to bathe Freya's forehead with earlier in the day, and used it to wash her face. Then he climbed back onto the bed and snuggled up to her again.

"Why don't you tell me about Frár?" he suggested. 

She pulled back and looked at him, and he guessed that she was trying to judge his sincerity.

"It's obvious you cared a good deal about him," Treysti observed neutrally, "or you wouldn't be as upset as you are. Was he one of your lovers?"

She nodded. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head. "Why should I mind? You have a grown son, so it stands to reason I'm not your first lover, only your latest. And after all, I've had a few lovers over the years."

She sighed, then snuggled up close again, tucking her head under his chin as he loosely wrapped his arms around her.

"Frár was my first lover," she told him. "He was such a handsome man when he was twenty."

"Well, that's only right since you must have been just as beautiful when you were young as you are now," Treysti said.

She snorted, and he smiled at this response. "I was sixteen," she continued, "and we fell madly in love. He was very devil-may-care, and loved to go exploring, wind-walking up the mountain to hidden valleys, or forgotten lakes. He took me with him, and we would make love, lying on a cloak in the grass, or on the shore of the lake, or hidden in a cave."

"That sounds wonderful," Treysti said quietly. "Why didn't you and he become hand-fasted?"

"We wanted to," Freya said. "But my mother, who was the Dronning, wouldn't hear of it. She considered Frár reckless and unreliable. I was devastated: he was such a passionate lover, and passionate about exploring, too, which made him exciting to be with. Then, one day, we wind-walked up the mountain and surprised a mother lion with her kits. She reacted badly to our intrusion, as you might expect, and attacked us. In trying to get away, Frár misjudged the air current we stepped onto, and it slammed me into a tree, breaking my left arm. My mother was furious, and I was forbidden to spend any time with him after that."

"Were you very upset?" Treysti asked.

She gave a half laugh. "Not as upset as I might have been, if he hadn't crashed me into that tree," she admitted. "My arm was a long time healing, and hurt an awful lot, so I was not as keen to continue seeing him as I might otherwise have been. He was less reckless after that, and became hand-fasted to Hollr Ingasdattar within the year. We stayed friends, however, and even spent time together as a quartet after I was hand-fasted to Konja."

She lifted her head and looked at him closely, and he smiled, then cupped her face in his hands to kiss her gently on the mouth. She moaned quietly, then shifted her body over his, which surprised him, although not as much as her clasping his wrist and bringing his hand between her thighs.

"I want you to touch me," she told him, and he smiled again. 

"If that's what you want." She gave a quick nod, so he began rubbing the tips of his fingers up and down the length of her entrance until she began to writhe and moan. Then he unfastened her trews and slid his hand inside her linen drawers to begin stroking her again.

She muttered "Inside" at him, and after a moment he realised that she wanted him to penetrate her with his fingers, so he did, twisting and stroking until she buried her face in the crook of his neck to muffle her cry of pleasure as she shuddered through her climax.

She quickly fell asleep in his arms after that, no doubt worn out by the emotions of the evening. Treysti didn't mind; he hoped that she would sleep deeply, and feel more rested once she awoke.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of this part of the tale - but I'm working on a second part, so this is far from the end of the journey for these characters.

The following day Treysti and Sofia accompanied Freya as she went to see Bisi, Sveinn, and Kylli. The three had been taken from the quayside where they had died and carried to the lych-house to await the appropriate rites. Treysti had tried to talk Freya out of going, saying that he and Tyr would go with Sofia, but Freya had refused to agree. Despite the fact that the three Imus Ager sorcerers had only lately been adopted into her tribe, she considered it her duty to attend to the business, and Sofia, recognising the stubbornness of a Dronning bent on doing her duty no matter what the personal cost, had persuaded Treysti not to try to dissuade her any further.

"Leave her be, lad," Sofia had said, patting his arm comfortingly. "She's bent on going, and I don't blame her – I would be, too, in her shoes. It may even help her to go and see them for herself before we carry out their cremation tomorrow morning."

"Very well, aunt. I will bow to your wisdom, but I don't like it."

Sofia had hugged him, then. "I don't suppose you do, lad, and it's to your credit that you want to shoulder Freya's burdens for her, and I know that she won't forget that. You'll be a good husband to her, and I'm glad for you both that you have found each other." She had kissed his cheek, then released him, and he had bestowed a swift kiss on her cheek in response, before going back upstairs to see if Freya needed any help in getting ready.

The hired rickshaw carried them across the town to where the lych-house was situated close to the mouth of the river down which Freya and her friends had travelled just a moon-cycle ago, and up which their party would be travelling in another day or two, once Sofia was satisfied that Freya was strong enough to make the journey.

The lych-house was a stone building, two storeys in height, but the second storey was below ground, rather than above since it was easier to keep the dead from decaying so quickly in the warmer temperatures that were customary in somewhere as far south as Bryggen. 

Venturing down into the large basement, Treysti and his companions found that the temperature was indeed very cool thanks to the fact that a man-made tributary of the river had been created to run underneath the building.

The air was liberally scented with the herbs Rosmarinus and Basileus, both of which the sorcerers themselves used during their funerary rites, and their very familiarity made Treysti feel less intimidated at being in the lych-house. Back in Imus Ager, such a place had not existed as the dead were always cremated at dawn of the morning following their death, before the ashes of those who had passed were scattered at sea. He found himself wondering what the sorcerers of Boreus Ager did with the ashes of their dead since they were so far from the sea.

Freya was speaking to the lych-house attendant, arranging to have a pyre built that was big enough for all three of her people to be burned together so that they might enter the afterlife in company, something she considered particularly important where Sveinn and Kylli were concerned.

The attendant, Harmsorgi, was very reassuring on that point, and at length Freya seemed satisfied, so they made their way back upstairs, and Treysti felt that he'd never been happier to see sunshine and hear the bustle of life going on around him than he was at that moment. 

He wondered why, after the deaths of so many people whom he loved during the past eighteen moon-cycles, the deaths of these three should seem so much more tragic to him. He mentioned this to Freya and Sofia as the rickshaw carried them back to the inn, and it was Sofia who offered an answer that seemed to make sense to Treysti.

"I suspect it's because the few of us who left Imus Ager together had survived Helminths disease, and the misery that had surrounded us for so long: we lived with death on a daily basis for eighteen moon-cycles, which is a long time to walk such a path. When we left Imus Ager we probably all felt that we had been reborn by being given a second chance at life, but then death came amongst us again, and with a swiftness even greater than that of Helminths disease."

"The loss of two of the tribe's four surviving children was a particularly cruel stroke," Freya observed, "especially for you because, in a sense, those four children had become the children of you all. You had had no hand in their procreation, but they were your collective responsibility after they were orphaned, and that made them all the more precious, I am sure."

"I'm sure you're both right," Treysti said. "And talking of children, how would you feel, Freya, if we adopted Osmo and Marja?" He cast a sidelong glance at his aunt. "Sofia, I know you suggested that I wait until Freya and I had been hand-fasted before bringing this up, but in light of what happened to Sveinn and Kylli, I thought I'd ask Freya now."

Freya looked startled at the suggestion, but not unhappy. "You would really do that?" she asked. "Take on someone else's children before we have had any time to ourselves."

He nodded. "I would. I've grown to really care about the twins, and I want them to feel safe and secure, with a home they can call their own, and people who care about them."

"You're a good man, Treysti Sefisson," Freya said, and kissed him briefly, but firmly.

He blushed, then clasped her hand in his. "Is that a yes, then?"

Freya laughed softly. "Yes, Treysti, it's a yes."

"Thank you."

# # # #

Everyone, including the twins, was up before sunrise the following morning, and they were all dressed in their best clothes for the ceremony for Bisi, Sveinn, and Kylli. The rickshaws that they had hired turned up on time, for which Freya was very grateful, and it took only a few moments to arrange that Osmo would travel with Tyr and Kolla, while Marja rode with Freya and Treysti. Kyrre and Agni rode together, while Jarp accompanied Sofia.

Freya had decided, the night before, that she and Treysti would tell the twins about their adoption after the ceremony was over so that they would have something happy to think about, as well as something sad, and although Treysti had been eager to give them the good news at once, he'd conceded the logic of Freya's decision to postpone the announcement for a few hours.

Since the streets were fairly quiet at such an early hour, it didn't take the rickshaw drivers long to carry them across town to the lych-house, where they were met by Harmsorgi. He led them straight through the ground floor of the lych-house and out onto the river bank at the back, where a large pyre had built since their visit the day before.

The four men of the party carried out Bisi's body, while Agni and Kolla carried out Sveinn's body, and Freya and Sofia carried Kylli's body. All three were dressed in their best clothes, and Harmsorgi followed carrying the belongings of the three, which he carefully set down close to the pyre. Bisi's body was laid in the centre of the top of the pyre, then Kylli on his left and Sveinn on his right. Freya and Sofia carefully placed their belongings around them, while Tyr and Treysti added food and drink, so that they would have everything which they would need when they reached the afterlife. 

Once everything was in place, Harmsorgi brought out two flaming torches, handing one to Tyr and the other to Treysti. The two walked to either end of the pyre and their eyes met over the top, then Tyr gave a slight nod, and they leaned forward simultaneously to set fire to the pyre together, before they rejoined the rest of their group. 

There was a whoosh as the well-seasoned wood burst into flames, which seemed bright and almost jolly in the early morning light. As more and more of the wood caught fire, Sofia stepped forward and sang in a pure, clear voice, the traditional lament and farewell. When she had finished and returned to the group, Treysti took her place and talked about Bisi, Sveinn, and Kylli, sharing his memories of the three friends. His place was taken by Kolla, who was followed by Jarp, then the twins in turn, both of whom were nervous, but determined to play their part in the ceremony. After everyone had spoken, sharing his or her memories of the deceased, they sang the traditional song of welcome to send them on their way to the afterlife. 

It was a long day, and when the pyre was finally burnt down around sunset everyone felt a measure of relief. Sofia and Freya had discussed with the others what to do with the ashes; in Imus Ager, it was the sorcerers' practice to scatter the deceased's ashes at sea, whereas in Boreus Ager, it was traditional to bury the ashes of the dead. Freya had made it clear that she was happy for Bisi, Sveinn and Kylli to be buried in Boreus Ager, but in the end, the others had decided to stick with their own tradition, so once Harmsorgi had gathered the ashes together into an urn, of which Treysti took charge, they took rickshaws along the coast a short distance away from the harbour where their friends had met their deaths, and they gathered on the beach to cast the ashes into the ocean. Then they returned to the Razorbill Inn for dinner.

# # # #

Freya waited until everyone had finished their first course and was waiting for Helga and Erik to bring in their dessert before she called for everyone's attention.

"As you all know, Treysti and I are going to be hand-fasted once we return to Boreus Ager. At the same time, we would like to welcome Osmo and Marja into our family." She looked down at the twins, who were looking up at her with a mixture of uncertainty and hope. "Treysti and I have agreed that we would like to have children together, and if you are willing, Marja and Osmo, you will become our children."

She glanced over at Tyr, thinking that she ought really to have discussed the matter with him before springing this on him, but the look of pride and joy in his eyes told her that he was happy with the news.

"We can live with you?" Marja asked.

"Yes, you can," Freya said.

"And Treysti, too?" asked Osmo.

"Definitely me too," Treysti said firmly. "We'll learn how to make snowballs together, and find out what birds and animals live in the mountains, and which trees and plants grow there. We'll go exploring – "

"And have picnics?" asked Osmo hopefully.

Treysti and Freya both chuckled. "Yes," answered Freya. 

Osmo scrambled down off his chair and rounded the table, then lifted up his arms to Freya, who bent and picked him up. He slid his arms around her neck as he wrapped his legs around her body, and whispered rather breathily in her ear, "May I call you mama?"

She felt tears pricking at her eyes and had to swallow before she could answer. "Yes, you may, if that's what you want?" 

Marja, meanwhile was still in her chair, but looking as if she wanted to be hugged, too, so Treysti knelt down beside her and held out his arms. She burst into tears as she leaned into him, and he picked her up out of the chair to cuddle her. 

"I think someone needs to get to sleep," he said quietly to Freya. "It has been a long day for them both."

She nodded agreement, and the two excused themselves to take the children upstairs to bed. The twins were sleeping in a double bed in the same room as Sofia, so Freya and Treysti carried them in, and got them both settled. Neither one took long to fall asleep, though Osmo did seem inclined to ask further questions, until Freya warned him that he was going to wake up Marja again.

# # # #

They left the Razorbill Inn around mid-morning the next day, Sofia having agreed the night before that Freya was sufficiently recovered from her concussion and injuries for them to travel. Tyr had booked them cabins aboard a boat that was leaving at noon to go back up the Bardoelva river. Agni and Kyrre had gone to see Hagr and collected the warmer clothing for the twins and the sorcerers formerly of Imus Ager. Shortly before they left Bryggen, Officer Kusma came to see them to inform them officially that there would be no action taken against them with regard to either of the incidents incited by Surtr. This was the outcome he'd led them to expect, but they were nonetheless relieved to hear the news as it was one less thing to worry about.

Aboard the river boat, Treysti and Freya were sharing one cabin, Tyr and Kolla a second, while the third was taken by Kyrre and Jarp, and Sofia, Agni, and the twins were in the fourth. Freya had suggested to Sofia that the twins share a cabin with her and Treysti, but Sofia had turned down the suggestion. 

"Spend time with them during the day," she said, "but let them continue to sleep in with me until you two are hand-fasted, and their adoption has been formally recognised by the tribe."

"Very well." Freya wondered, afterwards, if it was selfish of her to have so readily agreed to Sofia's suggestion, but she dismissed the thought.

The journey up the river as far as Bardo would take a moon-cycle, which gave Freya and Treysti plenty of time to get to know Osmo and Marja better; they played games with the twins, taught them songs and stories from both their tribes, and generally did their best to make the children feel that they were now part of a family.

While Freya, Treysti, and the twins were busy turning themselves into a family unit, Tyr and Kolla were active in fortifying their own relationship. Tyr had initially been a little wary of committing himself too far with Kolla after what had happened with Hel, particularly since Kolla shared Hel's mind-speaking skill. He had tried to hide his wariness, but she had quickly seen through him, and taken steps to reassure him that she would never try to make him do anything that he didn't want to do.

Eventually he had relaxed and brought himself to trust her after reminding himself that not all mind-speakers were like Hel, in fact she had been an aberration. He had also reminded himself that he had always respected Kyrre, and the other mind-speakers he knew within the tribe at Boreus Ager.

Then they had fought against Surtr, and Kolla had given him the advantage of blinding his enemy, which he continued to consider a stroke of genius. That night they had bedded together for the first time, and Tyr had discovered that Kolla was a very passionate, very giving woman, to whom it was a pleasure for him to bring pleasure. 

"We should tell the others that we intend to get hand-fasted," Kolla told Tyr as they lay naked and tangled together on the bed late that afternoon.

He chuckled, the hand which had been casually caressing her breasts stilling for the moment. "Kolla, my love, I'm fairly sure everyone knows that already."

"Of course they do," she said swiftly. "They're not stupid people. But I still would like to make a public announcement."

"Oh very well," he said, his tone full of weary resignation.

Kolla laughed, and shoved at his shoulder, pushing him down so that he lay on his back instead of his side. Then she moved her body swiftly over his, pressing him down with her full, if rather slender, weight. They both knew that if he wanted to, Tyr could easily dislodge her, but he was in no great rush to move her; instead he wrapped his left arm across her back, then slid his right hand down over her buttocks and between her thighs. At the same time, his lips nuzzled the side of her neck, and she moaned in pleasure, wriggling against him in a very delightful manner so that his member began to stiffen again. 

"I hope you're prepared to become a father," she said as he slipped his fingers inside her, "because at the rate we're going, I shall be quickening with child sooner rather than later."

He nipped at her ear as he withdrew his fingers, then plunged them back inside her. "Ready, willing, and able," he told her, which made her giggle until the movements of his fingers made her moan again.

"Oh yes, yes! Right there! Yes!" She rocked against his fingers, and he knew that she was close to achieving a climax, and he felt an intense surge of arousal as he worked her towards the edge, then over it. She buried her face in his neck so that her cries were muffled against his skin, and he carefully stroked her through the aftershocks.

She rolled off him, breathing heavily, to sprawl on her back beside him, and he pressed butterfly kisses to her cheeks and forehead until she was calmer, then he moved his body over hers and entered her with a quiet moan of his own as her slick heat encompassed him.

# # # #

By the time the riverboat reached Bardo, Freya wanted nothing more than to be at home – she was longing to see her mountains again. The boat had begun to seem cramped, which she told herself was illogical of her since there was plenty of space for all, even with two energetic seven year olds aboard. 

They disembarked at Bardo, then Treysti and Tyr went to find ponies for the twins so that they wouldn't have to ride double with someone else, as well as horses for Treysti, Sofia, Kolla, and Jarp. As they still had at least two hours of daylight left, they decided not to stay the night in Bardo, but to begin riding around the lake towards Hamarr, and stay at an inn in one of the towns en route.

Kyrre had used his mind-speaking skills to contact his brother, Tassu, before they left the boat, and Ilmur and the others knew that Freya's party had been enlarged by four adults and two orphan children, not just the betrothed of Tyr. This had caused Tassu some surprise, but Kyrre had merely told his brother that a full explanation would be given once they reached Boreus Ager, and Tassu had had to be content with that promise.

They decided that they would only stay one night in Hamarr, where they found themselves invited to have dinner with Vogt Daniel Rask and his clerk, Reifnir. The Vogt revealed that after the visit of one of Officer Kusma's men seeking to learn more of Surtr, Rask had requested that a watch be maintained for the return of Freya's party to the town so that they could exchange news about Surtr. Of course, Rask hadn't expected Freya to reveal that Tyr and his betrothed, Kolla, had finally put an end to Surtr's murderous rampages, and Freya could see a new level of respect in the Vogt's eyes at this piece of news.

"I am sorry that our town's treatment of Surtr when he was just a boy led to such terrible consequences for so many people," Rask said sombrely.

"Well, if you learn from the experience, then it won't have been a complete waste," Freya said, and the Vogt's eyebrows rose at the rather tart tone of her voice, so she elaborated, "Surtr was nine years old when two of his brothers were killed and the third left crippled – yet no one tried to help him until it was already too late. A nine year old child was punished for things that were done by three grown men, things which he could not have prevented, and had no part in instigating; it was merely guilt by association, and it was a cruel thing to do. If someone had intervened at that point, it's just possible the boy would have grown up to be a better man, one for whom murder and revenge did not become a way of life."

Rask looked uncomfortable at Freya's words, but she noticed that he did not deny the charge, which was just as well. She had given the matter considerable thought since Officer Kusma had informed them of Surtr's childhood, and she had been appalled at the thought that a nine-year old boy and his widowed mother, both of them completely blameless, should have been treated as badly as they had been. She also felt that Surtr's surviving brother had been more than sufficiently punished for his own ill-advised behaviour by being left a life-long cripple, and that if only the townsfolk had tried to help what was left of the family, instead of shunning them, Surtr might well have become a useful member of the community instead of a murderer. She couldn't blame him for his hatred of sorcerers, but she did feel that if only someone had taken the time and trouble to properly explain to him what had happened, he might have learned not to hate so intensely.

# # # #

The next morning they set off on the last stretch of their journey. It was the most tiring stage since it was all uphill from Hamarr, and on mostly narrow mountain trails, but everyone was looking forward to it since tonight they would be sleeping among their fellow sorcerers, rather than with non-sorcerers.

Treysti kept a close eye on the twins since he had no desire to lose them after all these weeks of travelling, and the mountain trails, so Freya had told him, could be tricky in places. In the end, Treysti and Tyr put Marja and Osmo onto their own horses to ride with them, and led the ponies when they came to the final part of the trail. Osmo seemed to regard it as a huge adventure and chattered gaily to Tyr the whole way, but Treysti could feel Marja continuously trembling, and although he tried to talk to her, to keep her anxiety at bay, she responded mostly in monosyllables. 

Finally, however, they were within sight of the steading, and there seemed to be a large crowd of people waiting for them, although when they got close, the group resolved itself into Agni's mother and sisters, together with Kyrre's parents and siblings.

Everyone climbed down from their horses, and greetings were exchanged between Agni, Kyrre and their families, then Ilmur led the way in through the gate, and four youngsters came to unload the saddlebags from the horses before leading the animals away to be looked after. Ilmur and Freya headed the small procession of people as they made their way to the council chamber where Freya introduced the newest members of the tribe, the remaining sorcerers from Imus Ager.

"Tyr is betrothed to Kolla," Freya went on, and Treysti wondered if he was imagining the slight tremor in her voice, "and I am betrothed to Treysti."

Someone in the Boreus Ager group stifled an exclamation of surprise at this, but Treysti was unable to discern who it was.

"In addition, Treysti and I are going to adopt Osmo and Marja."

The older woman whom Freya had introduced as Agni's mother, Ilmur, looked positively thunderstruck at this piece of news, even moreso than she had at Freya's announcement of her betrothal. 

She glanced at Treysti, who stood beside Freya, with Osmo leaning against his legs, and Marja in his arms, then she gave a shrug. "I'm going to assume that you know what you're doing," Ilmur said, "since usually you do."

"Thank you," answered Freya with rather more courtesy than Treysti felt Ilmur's comment actually warranted. "I think that we will save further conversation until tomorrow, if you do not mind, as we're all weary from travelling."

"Of course." Ilmur nodded, then left with her daughters, as did Kyrre's family. 

Freya looked at Kyrre and Agni, and smiled. "You are welcome to stay in my longhouse tonight, if you wish," she told them, "but if you want to be with your families tonight, I will not be offended."

Kyrre glanced at Agni, who nodded, then he said, "If it's not inconvenient to you, we'd like to stay with you tonight."

Freya nodded in turn. "You are welcome," she repeated. She turned and scooped Osmo up into her arms, then led the way out of the council chamber and across the steading to her longhouse.

# # # #

Freya saw to it that Sofia and Agni, and Jarp and Kyrre each had their own sleeping spots near the fire in the centre of the longhouse. The twins she took with her and Treysti to the sleeping loft at the eastern end of the building, while Tyr and Kolla took the sleeping loft at the western end. Osmo and Marja were asleep almost as soon as they lay down on their shared pallet in the corner furthest from the ladder that led back down to the ground floor. Freya had little doubt of the pair waking very soon, and although she would have liked to enjoy some intimacy with Treysti, they were both nearly as tired as the twins, so they settled for snuggling up together and exchanging a few kisses before they also succumbed to sleep. 

The next morning everyone was up in good time, and they shared a communal breakfast while they discussed how soon the double hand-fasting and adoption ceremonies were going to take place. In the end, they decided to wait no more than a week, which would take them to the first of Juli, which they all felt was a good day.

"Sofia and Jarp, you will both be welcome if you choose to remain living in my longhouse. Treysti and I consider you to be part of our family now, and since Tyr and Kolla will be remaining here at least until their family starts to outgrow this house, I should not wish you to feel that you were in the way by staying." She gave them both a smile. "It's only been me and Tyr since I lost my daughters, and I think I can speak for us both when I say that it will do us both good to have more people about the place."

Freya and Treysti had discussed the matter during the boat ride up the Bardoelva River; Sofia was Treysti's aunt and only living relative, and Jarp was Kolla's brother, and also her only living relative, so it made sense to both of them to have the two of them living in the longhouse with them.

"Thank you, Freya, that is a very generous offer, and one which I shall be glad to accept," Sofia said, and Treysti got up from his chair, moved around the table and hugged her tightly, which made Freya and Sofia smile.

Freya turned towards Jarp, one eyebrow raised enquiringly, and he smiled. "If Kolla doesn't think I'll be cramping her style too much," he said, "then I shall also accept your offer gladly."

Kolla laughed softly. "You couldn't cramp my style if you tried, brother."

"I'm very pleased to hear it," Freya said, and smiled at them both.

# # # #

One week later the joint hand-fasting ceremony for Freya and Treysti, and Tyr and Kolla took place in a clearing in the woods that flanked the steading to the east. The two brides both wore over-tunics and trews in bright red, with the symbols for their sorcerous skills embroidered on the front. Treysti was wearing an over-tunic and trews in mid-blue, while Tyr's were in deep green. Osmo and Marja wore over-tunics and trews in grey, while Sofia's clothing was pale yellow, and Jarp's was a deeper blue than Treysti's.

Accompanying them were Kyrre, Agni, Tassu, the other elders of the tribe (with Ilmur at their head), and various friends of Freya and Tyr. Also among the witnesses were four other children from Freya's clan, with whom Osmo and Marja had begun to make friends. 

Heilagr was presiding over the ceremonies, as was customary, and he had already marked out the circle within which they would stand using smooth white rocks from the river. At the four cardinal points of the circle were positioned lit torches. The two couples walked around the circle, after approaching it from the east, then entered the circle beside the eastern torch. 

"Friends, you are all gathered here today to witness the hand-fasting of Freya Idasdatter and Treysti Eriksson, and Tyr Konjasson and Kolla Fridasdatter. Do you Freya and you Treysti wish to be hand-fasted to each other, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do." The response from them both was immediate and clearly spoken.

"And do you Tyr and you Kolla wish to be hand-fasted to each other, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Tyr's response came a breath ahead of Kolla's, which made Freya smile fondly at her son.

"And have you four come here today of your own free will, in perfect love and in perfect trust, to so be joined?"

"I have." This time the four answered as one.

"Does anyone here present know of any reason why these people should not be hand-fasted? Speak now, or forever hold your peace." Heilagr looked around at the circle of people, but no one raised any objection, so he continued,

"Your hand-fasting is recognised by all here present, and all others whom you may encounter hereafter, with the exchange of rings." Heilagr held out an open book, with two rings on the left-hand page and two more on the right. Treysti and Tyr each picked up the smaller of the two rings, and slid it onto his bride's finger, then Freya and Kolla each picked up the remaining rings and slid it onto her groom's finger.

"Now you may speak your vows," prompted Heilagr.

"I, Freya, commit myself to be with Treysti, in joy and adversity, in wholeness and brokenness, in peace and turmoil, living with him faithfully all our days. May the Gods give me the strength to keep these vows. So be it." She smiled at Treysti, who smiled back, his blue eyes full of love, before he recited his own vow.

After Tyr and Kolla had both recited their own vows, Heilagr picked up a silver chalice from the altar and offered it to Freya and Treysti. 

"You will have need of balance in your future lives together: you must balance your need for separateness as individuals with your need for togetherness as a couple. Drink."

Freya took the chalice and drank from it, then passed it to Treysti, who also drank, then he held out the chalice to her, and she drank a second time as he held it steady, then she took the chalice from Treysti and held it for him as he drank again. Heilagr repeated his words and offered the chalice to Tyr and Kolla, who also drank individually, then held the chalice for their partner to drink from it.

Freya then clasped Treysti's right wrist in her right hand, while he grasped her wrist also, then she clasped his left wrist in her left hand, and he reciprocated. Once their hands and wrists were joined, Heilagr lifted a length of red cord from the altar and tied it around their wrists, knotting it securely in place. Osmo and Marja then stepped forward, one on either side, and placed their hands atop the knotted cord. 

"Do you, Freya, and you, Treysti, promise to love, nurture, encourage, teach, and discipline Osmo and Marja as your own children?"

"We do." The pair spoke in unison, smiling down at the children.

"And do you, Osmo, and you, Marja, promise to love, obey, and learn from Freya and Treysti as if they were your own parents?"

"We do." Osmo's face was a picture of solemnity, while Marja was biting her bottom lip in what Freya suspected was an attempt to stop it trembling too much.

Heilagr took another length of cord and lightly bound it around the children's and adults' hands. "I now declare Freya and Treysti to be man and wife, and Osmo and Marja to be their children, so long as they each shall live. Let no man or woman put asunder what the gods have hereto conjoined."

Turning to Tyr and Kolla, Heilagr repeated the binding of their hands and wrists with another length of red cord, then he made his declaration that Tyr and Kolla were man and wife, and abjured no one to separate them.

"Freya and Treysti, Tyr and Kolla, be patient and understanding, each with the other. Be free in the giving of affection and warmth. Be sensuous with one another. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for the Gods are with you, now and always."

Sofia and Jarp each stepped forward and lifted a silver dagger from the altar, then used it to cut the lengths of cord binding Freya, Treysti and the twins, and Tyr and Kolla free, then Freya and Treysti kissed, as did Tyr and Kolla. After which Freya and Treysti pulled the twins into a four-way embrace.

The newly hand-fasted couples shook hands with their friends and the elders, receiving everyone's congratulations, then Heilagr announced,

"The circle is open but unbroken. May the peace of the Gods go in our hearts. Blessed be all." He stepped towards the eastern torch, and picked up the rocks to its right, then gestured for Freya and the others to precede him out of the circle.

They returned to Freya and Treysti's longhouse where the two hand-fasted couples, the newly adopted children, and the others shared a wedding breakfast which Sofia and Agni had prepared for them.

# # # # 

Over the course of the following weeks, Freya, Treysti, and the others of their party met with the elders of the tribe to recount in full the details of their trip to Imus Ager and back. Ilmur and the others listened intently, expressing various degrees of anger at Surtr's attacks, and Hel's behaviour, and of satisfaction at the deaths of them both.

At the end of the recital, Freya brought up the matter which she, Treysti, and the others had discussed amongst themselves since their return to Boreus Ager.

"We feel it might be time for us to leave Boreus Ager," Freya told the others.

Ilmur gave her an incredulous look. "To go where?" she asked. "Where else in Nynorsk could we go?"

"I don't believe there is anywhere," Freya answered. "And returning to Imus Ager is obviously out of the question, given the outbreak of Helminths disease that occurred there."

"So where do you suppose we can live?" asked Ilmur, and Freya knew she was not alone in hearing the dread in the older woman's voice.

"Jarp?" Freya invited the young man to step forward.

"My father, Lodvig, was a great traveller by non-sorcerous means, as well as being a wind-walker, and when I was a small boy, he once took me to visit a chain of islands to the west of here which I think would be ideal for us."

"Who lives there now?" demanded Ilmur.

"No one," Jarp answered. "The islands are considered too isolated to be of interest to non-sorcerers, which would, of course, be a major factor in their favour for us."

"How many islands are in this chain?" asked Treysti.

"Twenty-five," Jarp said. "Several of them are as large as this steading in size, so we would have more than enough room to expand in the future."

"So we'll be moving when?" asked Ilmur.

Freya gave her a sharp look. "That has yet to be decided," she answered. "You know as well as I do, Ilmur, that such a momentous decision cannot be made without the support of the whole tribe. If you are all agreeable to the discussion taking place, I propose a meeting of the entire tribe on Fredag, after which we will take a tally of those in favour, and those who are opposed, and whichever group has the majority will decide us on our further action, or inaction."

"Very well."

Freya looked around at the others. "All those in favour of discussing this matter with the whole tribe?"

Every hand was raised, even Ilmur's, so Freya dictated to Kolla the wording of the announcement to tell the tribe of the forthcoming meeting.

The elders filed out, some looking very thoughtful, and Freya turned to Treysti. "You're sure you're not too horrified at the thought of uprooting yourself all over again?" she asked.

"Freya." He sighed softly and shook his head, then pulled her into his arms. "My love, we've been over this so many times already. I am happy wherever you are happy, and you know very well that I agreed with your reasoning when you first suggested the move. I haven't changed my mind." He kissed her, and she sensed the strength of his love for her, and realised that she should stop second-guessing him when he had never been anything less than truthful with her.

"Very well," she said, breathing heavily once he'd released her mouth. "I just hope the majority of them agree to this, but even if they do, it's not going to happen overnight."

"Freya," Treysti said, his tone of exaggerated patience bringing a smile to her face, "stop borrowing trouble." He kissed the side of her neck, then nipped at her earlobe, before speaking softly in her ear. "Come to bed, love." He pulled her body flush against his, and she moaned softly at the sensation of his swollen member pressing against her centre.

"You're always trying to get me into bed," she observed, then kissed him deeply.

"Of course," he answered. "I can't wait for us to have children together, so I'm going to keep tumbling you into our bed until you finally quicken with child."

She laughed, a husky sound that seemed to go straight from his ears to his groin, arousing him even further.

"If you don't come to bed with me right now," he muttered, "I am going to be forced to take you right here."

Freya pulled back to look at him, then shook her head. "You're such a bad boy," she chided.

"And you're a wicked tease," he retorted. "Come to bed.

"Oh, very well."

He smirked, knowing full well that her reluctance was feigned. She was just as eager for them to start a family together as he was, and he knew that as well as she did.

She gave him her hand and he led her rapidly out of the council chamber and across the steading to their longhouse. Fortunately it was the middle of the afternoon, and everyone else was busy elsewhere, so they had the place to themselves. Nevertheless, after they had climbed the ladder up into their sleeping loft, they took a moment to pull it up after them so that neither Osmo nor Marja (nor anyone else) could join them there unexpectedly.

# # # #

It was eighteen moon cycles before Insulae Catena, as they had named the archipelago, was home to all of the sorcerers of Boreus Ager. The majority of sorcerers had immediately voted to move to the islands, but that was the easy first step. The next step was to check whether all of the islands were equally inhabitable, which entailed sending survey parties over there, mostly consisting of weather-workers and wind-walkers. After that they had to decide how to construct their homes because not everyone wanted to continue living in timber longhouses. As a consequence Freya enlisted the assistance of Daniel Rask's clerk, Reifnir, whom she considered a very practical man, and he introduced her to various craftsmen in Hamarr, each of whom were prepared to teach groups of the sorcerers how to make bricks or to quarry stone, and how to use both in order to safely construct buildings.

Eventually, however, enough members of the tribe had mastered both brick-making and stone quarrying, and homes and communal buildings began to be constructed on all of the larger islands, and as they were completed, so the families relocated. After about six moon cycles the ship masters in Hladir, which was the closest port to Insulae Catena, grew quite used to transporting sorcerer families and their household goods over to the archipelago. Freya noticed that the ship masters seemed quite convinced that no good would come of the move, but neither she nor anyone else was prepared to let their opinion deter them from relocating.

Once the final family had left Boreus Ager and moved to Insula Sveinn (they had decided to name the individual islands after various of their late friends), a great feast was held, both to celebrate the completion of the community, and to welcome the archipelago's first baby as Kolla had given birth to her second daughter that very morning, and she and Tyr were ecstatic at the fact that little Kylli was the first of the island-born children. 

Freya herself had finally quickened with child, and she and Treysti were looking forward to their first baby being born in another six moon cycles. Osmo and Marja, who were approaching their tenth birthday, and eagerly awaiting the revelation of their own sorcerous skills, were equally excited at the prospect of having a younger brother or sister. The twins had taken to life on the islands with a cheerful enthusiasm which had been a great relief to their parents, especially Freya. She had worried even more about uprooting them a second time than she had about Treysti, but she quickly found that she needn't have been apprehensive. They loved their new house, which was stone-built and three stories tall. Tyr and Kolla were no longer living with them, but their own house was only a short distance away, and the two houses shared a communal garden where Osmo, Marja, and Gefion, Tyr and Kolla's first-born daughter, played together. 

Sofia and Jarp still made their home with Freya and Treysti: Jarp had a room up on the second floor, but Sofia was on the ground floor as she found it easier on her knees than climbing lots of stairs to the first or second floor. The communal rooms were also on the ground floor, while Freya and Treysti, and the twins had rooms on the first floor. 

Freya and Treysti left the party early in order to take the twins home and get them to bed at a not too unreasonable hour. As it was, Osmo had begged so hard they'd let him and Marja stay an extra half an hour, but Freya would not allow him to wheedle any extra time out of her. Fortunately her son had a sunny disposition and having won over his mother once, he was not inclined to hold the fact that he had failed to win her over a second time against her. Marja hadn't minded not being allowed to stay any longer since she was practically falling asleep where she sat next to her papa at the feast table. Sofia had offered to take the twins back home, and so had Jarp, but Freya and Treysti had bid them stay and enjoy the singing and story-telling that was just starting, and they'd carried the children back home, despite the fact that Osmo was getting rather too heavy to carry about on a regular basis, even for Treysti.

Once the twins were settled in their room and sleeping, Treysti scooped Freya up in his arms, eliciting a startled squeak out of her, then carried her along the corridor to their own room.

"Treysti, put me down you silly boy," Freya protested quietly as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, then shoved it closed behind him with his foot.

"Of course, my dear." He took the three strides across the floor that were necessary to reach the bed, then lowered her lightly into the middle of the bed. Before she'd fallen pregnant, he'd been prone to toss her onto the bed, but as soon as Freya had told him that she was finally bearing a child, he had stopped. On the whole, Freya hadn't seemed to mind.

He leaned over her and began undressing her, while planting feather-light kisses on her face, neck, and shoulders, and she whimpered quietly in response. He removed all of her clothing apart from her drawers, then swiftly stripped himself to his own drawers before joining her on the bed. 

"You are so beautiful," he said softly, before kissing her fully on the mouth. 

She combed her fingers through his hair and he moaned, then began kissing a path down her throat to her breasts. She whimpered more loudly this time: Freya's breasts had always been susceptible to his mouth and hands, but there were even more so now that she was with child. 

"Treysti!" She gasped with pleasure as he suckled on one breast while stroking her inner thighs with his right hand.

Eventually he resumed his path of kisses, down over her abdomen until he reached her mound. He quickly pulled off her drawers, then his fingers were inside her, and she was beginning to writhe in response to his ministrations. He smiled with satisfaction at bringing her pleasure, then stifled her cry of release by placing his mouth over hers; while the walls of their new home were thick, but he still didn't want to risk one of the children hearing Freya's climax.

Once she was through the aftershocks, he removed his own drawers, and she reached for his throbbing member, a rather wicked glint in her eye, and he guessed that he was not going to get the chance to penetrate her just yet.

He'd be the first to admit that Freya had taught him a good deal about love-making during the time they had been hand-fasted. He had known, intellectually at least, that she was considerably older than him, and therefore had more experience than he did, but he hadn't given it a good deal of thought until she began teaching him new ways to pleasure her, and helping him to discover new ways in which she could pleasure him. 

All in all he considered himself to be an extremely fortunate man: he had a beautiful and sensuous woman for a wife, two wonderful children who had accepted their adoption with aplomb, and a third child, one of his own and Freya's making, on the way, and they had a wonderful new home in which to bring up their family.

He didn't know what the gods would bring into their lives next, but he felt confident that he and Freya could face and deal with whatever challenge was thrown at them.

**Author's Note:**

> If it helps to picture the characters involved, I've compiled a list of which actors I have 'cast' as which characters.
> 
> Freya - Judi Dench  
> Tyr - Ralph Fiennes  
> Agni - Honeysuckle Weeks  
> Kyrre - Michael Kitchen  
> Sofia - Maggie Smith  
> Treysti - Daniel Craig  
> Hel - Eva Green  
> Jarp - Jeffrey Wright  
> Kolla - Naomie Harris
> 
> Surtr - Ben Daniels  
> Daniel Rask - Anthony Hopkins


End file.
